Life with Rules Changed
by Kalsypher
Summary: Kokoro Kusho, an elite ANBU member, has killed her fugitive father, the former ANBU captain. Worried about the young ninja's future mental health, the Third Hokage sends her to work along with a Genin team. How will she react to actually being around children her age? What will happen when she meets an old friend? Sasuke x OC
1. Fugitive Death

I stood over my father's body, ready to burn it, after I pulled the kunai from it. He had been pathetically easy to kill. It was almost insulting to call him a former ANBU captain. As I watched his body begin to burn, I heard footsteps approach me.

I turned to see one of the other members of the ANBU, Miyoki. She had a gentle smile on her face. "Are you alright?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" I asked, a bit confused.

She frowned slightly, "Even though he was a fugitive, he was still your father, Koko."

I looked at the body that was turning into ash right in front of me.

A…father…

"I…never thought of him that way," I told her. "He's always been an ANBU captain to me. Then he became a fugitive. He taught me everything I know, but he wasn't much of a father…"

She gently squeezed my shoulder, "The Hokage wants to see you."

I disappeared, making my way to the Hokage's office. When I arrived, I found Kakashi there along with the Hokage.

"Yes, Hokage?" I asked.

He sighed as he held a piece of paper in his hands, "I just read your report, Kokoro. You killed your father?"

"Yes sir," I replied.

He nodded. "I would like for you to withdraw from the ANBU for the time being. You will join a Genin team under Kakashi Hatake and assist him with teaching his students. He will need all the help he can get," he muttered the last sentence.

I didn't argue, only looked at Kakashi and smiled. It had been a while since I had worked with Kakashi.

"So, Koko, are you ready to meet your new team?" Kakashi asked with a smile hidden beneath his mask.

Any time he smiled…I was worried.

"They must be special if they actually passed your test," I said.

"No, we're doing that today," he said. "They've been at the training site since 5 this morning. I'm sure they're well past angry now."

I laughed a bit. Kakashi certainly knew how to push people the wrong way.

"Though, Sasuke might be excited to see you again," Kakashi said knowingly.

I looked at him, "Uchiha? THE Sasuke Uchiha?"

"Yep," he said. "They don't know you're coming so you may as well enjoy it for today. You've never seen me teach before."

"That's because you don't know how," I told him.

"No, I just have a different way of doing it than the others," he said. "I'm sure they'll do fine if you don't help them. But these three are like water and oil. They hate each other. Just wait and see. I don't like them at all."

When we got to the training ground, there was a blonde boy, a pink haired girl, and the Uchiha. Sasuke just stared at me while the blonde and pink yelled at Kakashi.

"Right, I had to get our newest member," Kakashi said as he gestured to me.

I rolled my eyes, "You usually have better excuses than the truth."

"Who is she?" The blonde asked.

"Kokoro Kusho," Sasuke said. "A member of the ANBU. One of the best ninja in the entire village. Why is she part of our team?"

The pink gave me a glare. Jealousy?

"The Hokage wants her to assist in teaching the three of you, and she'll be assisting in your training. Consider yourselves lucky," Kakashi said. "Not everyone has this opportunity to get trained by an elite ANBU member."

Kakashi placed an alarm on the post then tossed a bell to me. "Both of us have a bell. You can take your chances with her, or you can come after me. Either all three of you can go back to the Academy or only one of you. Ready…Begin!"

The three of them jumped away. I looked at Kakashi, "Are you sure that was a wise idea?"

"Don't kill my students," he said as he stood there.

I chuckled as I played with the bell. "Wouldn't dream of it. At least two of them know how to hide. Sort of…I'll be seeing you."

I glanced at the blonde and walked away. The blonde growled at me, "Hey! Why are you walking away?!"

I sighed as I stopped walking, "Don't even try."

A kunai came out of a tree and I caught it an inch from my face. The blonde stared in amazement. "O-Oh man…" he stuttered.

"Fight Kakashi while you think you have a chance," I told him as I tossed the bell up and down. "You're not getting it from me."


	2. Lesson on Teamwork

I sighed as I sat on a stump, tossing the bell up and down. It looked like a war zone around me from Sasuke's failed attempts of trying to attack me. As of right now, his head was sticking out of the ground and he was glaring at me, trying to escape the Head Hunter jutsu I had put him in.

"Get me out, Koko!" He demanded.

"You know," I said as I watched Sakura run out of the forest then scream and faint.

Both of us just stared at her for a moment and sighed.

I stood up and walked up to him and squatted in front of him, "There is a simple answer to your problem. It's been staring you in the face, Sasuke." I went back to the stump and sat down. "If you got your head out your ass, our arranged marriage would have been worth it."

He growled at me, "Like I would have married you."

My sunset orange eyes landed on him, then went back to the pink haired girl on the ground. "I don't think she would appreciate the idea."

Sasuke's onyx eyes widened, "You…How can you tell?"

"Kakashi told me to find your weaknesses," I told him as I stood up. "And that's what I did. Yours was easiest because it drove us apart." I looked at the unconscious girl. "She's obsessed with you while she couldn't care less about anyone else. Tch," I scoffed. "And the blonde…he's a simple minded fool. None of you deserve to be ninja."

Sasuke growled at me, "I was top of my class!"

I turned my back to him, "I didn't even attend the Academy. Now figure out what level you're on with me. Then attack me. You don't stand a chance."

He growled, "Why are you here?!"

I threw a kunai that stabbed right in front of his face. The fear on his face…

"I killed my father," I told him. "And you should learn how to mask that fear. Show that one time on a mission, they'll kill you."

He glared at me, "How would you know? You wore masks."

I walked up to him and pulled the knife from the ground, "Am I wearing one now, Sasuke? Or do you really think I wouldn't kill you? Even after all the fond memories we shared?"

He just stared at me. He wasn't sure.

"That's what I thought," I said quietly.

"You have changed," he said lowly. "You're just like him. Just like my brother."

I sat in front of him, "There's a difference between your brother and me. He wanted power. I don't want anything. I was following orders." I looked at my hands, "But the Third was right. I was too young to take this on. It's turned me into a monster. Being around Genin will help me be alive again."

I sighed and stood up. "Good luck getting out, Sasuke. Too bad you failed the test. Have fun at the Academy again."

He started yelling at me while I walked away. When I found Kakashi, he was walking away from the blonde who was tied to a pole.

"What'd he do?"

"Tried to eat lunch early. What did you learn?"

"Sasuke hasn't changed. The girl is obsessed with Sasuke and doesn't care about the blonde. The blonde is full of himself, like Sasuke, but has a fool's mind and no strategy. We've got a long way to go if they make it."

"Do you think they will?" Kakashi asked.

"Depends on-"

The timer went off.

Sasuke and the pink haired girl walked back.

Kakashi sighed, "Would you like to give the lecture? I'm sure you'll give it better than I do."

The two stood in front of me, next to the blonde that was tied to the pole. I crossed my arms over my chest as I looked at them. Sasuke sneered at me.

"Wipe that look off your face, Sasuke," I told him. "You're no better than the other two."

The girl tried to attack me but I grabbed her and slammed her to the ground then sat on her with a kunai at her neck. The blonde and Sasuke were speechless.

"You move and you're dead, girl," I told her. "Now that I have your attention, do you realize what this exercise was about?"

"Getting the bells," the blonde answered.

"No, idiot," I told him. "It was about teamwork. Why the hell else do you think you work in teams of three or more?"

"Why are you on Sakura then?" Sasuke asked.

"If I were the enemy and you had to kill Naruto to spare her, would you?" I asked, pressing the kunai against her throat.

She whimpered. I got off and pushed her back to them.

"With that being said," Kakashi said as he stood next to me, "we are willing to give you a second chance after lunch. Don't feed Naruto since he tried to eat his lunch early. If you fail this test, you will all be eliminated…permanently."

I smirked, "That means I get to kill all three of you, in case you were wondering."

With that, Kakashi and I walked away. I sighed as we waited.

"You know, I dropped a few hard hints to Sasuke to break the rules," I told him. "I think they'll do it."

"After having it hammered in their heads that they shouldn't break the rules? Maybe not."

"I did threaten to kill two of them already. Well, now all of them. I think they get the point that rules are meant to be broken."

"I don't think so," Kakashi said. "Are you going to start chakra training soon?"

"That's my job? I thought that was your job? If anything they'll want basic Taijutsu from me. And Ninjutsu from the Copy Ninja."

"And now it's yours."

I glared at him. He disappeared and I walked up as he yelled at them, then calmly told the three that they passed, because they acted as a team. I smiled slightly as I rested my hand on my hip, watching the three celebrate, though Sasuke contained his.

"Oh, and if you want any training, talk to Koko about it," Kakashi said while pointing at me. "She'll be more than happy to help you out."

I walked to Naruto and released him from the pole. He blinked as he looked down at me, "You're stronger than me, huh?" He asked.

"Much," I replied.

He grinned, "Are you stronger than Kakashi-sensei?"

"Yes," I replied as we walked.

I had grown a crowd as Sakura and Sasuke walked around us to listen to the conversation.

"So, what can you teach us?" Sakura asked.

"What do you need to learn?" I asked. I sighed as I closed my eyes, "Never mind. I would need to train you all individually to help you all, but after we go through a few missions I'll know where your team work lacks and where your strength lies. I'll be able to fix you then."

"Fix?" Sakura asked.

"As ANBU we take in every detail," I told her. "Including the weakness and strength of every member of a team. Sakura, you're obviously the weakest in the team, but you make up for it by being the most knowledgeable. Naruto, you're the most determined and headstrong, but you are also a fool and have no strategy in a fight. Sasuke is a prideful bastard, but has the most experience. We can make this team work."

"What about you, Koko-sensei?" Naruto asked. "Aren't you and Kakashi-sensei going to be helping as well?"

"I will be," I told them. "My strength is my experience, but it is also my weakness. Being an ANBU has made me careless in other people's feelings and I will be very blunt towards you. I do not mean to be, but I'm afraid if you want me to solve your problems, I will give you a direct and honest answer according to my opinion. If you want someone to hold your hand, go find someone else. I'm not a shoulder to cry on. And I'm not a sensei. I'm a member of the team. Kakashi just wanted me to figure out your weaknesses and he knew by getting you to attack me I would find out faster."

"We need chakra training," Sasuke said. "That should be obvious."

"You're not ready for it," I told him. "Well…they're not. Physical strength first. Then mental. And then chakra. Same goes for you Sasuke. You may have mastered the fire jutsu, but we've got a long way to go before you're able to do something impressive with it."

"We can use jutuses! Believe it!"

I sighed, "Come with me. I'll show you what using a jutsu is."


	3. Blood Jutsu

When we got back to the training ground, the three waited for me to show them some sort of jutsu.

"Normally, using any sort of jutsu at our age will wear you out," I told them. "I'm different, so, I don't count, but with training we'll get you there. A jutsu is a concentration of chakra to do something specific, basically. And some families have specific jutsus. Like the Uchiha clan has the Fire Ball jutsu."

Sakura glared at me, "And how do you know that?!"

I sighed as I rested my hand on my hip, "Do you really want to know, because that really will only make this harder on you if I tell you."

"Just forget it," Sasuke said. "Keep teaching. We need to know about this."

"But also, you can find out what your specific jutsu is through meditation and focusing your chakra," I picked up a rock and threw it at Naruto to get his attention again.

He glared at me as he rubbed his forehead, "If you weren't so boring, I wouldn't zone out!"

"You need to know before I can show you, stupid!" I yelled back. I sighed, "But, anyway, the Kusho clan has always been in the ANBU. We have a special jutsu in blood."

Sakura shuddered, "I could have gone all day without knowing that."

Naruto blinked, "Blood? What do you mean?"

"It means that jutsus are not just elemental," I told him. "There are other things you can control. So, if you don't know what your jutsu is, just keep your mind to all possibilities."

"But what can you do with blood?" Naruto asked.

"You don't want to know," Sasuke said.

I smirked slightly. Sakura growled as she pointed at me, "Ok! How do you know Sasuke?!"

I looked at Sasuke then looked at Sakura, "It's not my story to tell," I told her. "At least not mine alone. When he's ready to discuss it, I'll be more than happy to tell you, but until then, I'm not telling you a thing because it's none of your business."

"But we're a team!" She said.

"So?" I said. "I figured out your name and Naruto's just by being observant. Now, all of you sit down and we'll begin our training for the day."

The three of them sat down, giving me a strange look. "Just close your eyes and focus on what's around you," I told them.

"But why?" Sakura asked.

"To understand each other," I told her. "You need to recognize each other so you don't attack each other in a fight. When you're fighting, your senses are heightened and you will be able to sense your teammates. By focusing on the area around you, you will be able to tell the difference between each other. I can't tell you how annoying this exercise is or how many times I went through it."

"How is this going to help our chakra?" Sasuke asked.

I sat in front of them, "What do you think you're sensing? Now, close your eyes and focus."

After a few minutes, I threw another rock at Naruto before he fell asleep. He groaned as he rubbed his forehead and jumped to his feet, "Sasuke! Why'd you hit me with a rock?!"

"Naruto, sit down," I told him. "I threw the rock."

"Why does your chakra feel strained?" Sakura asked. "Like you're holding it back?"

"Her true power would probably overwhelm us," Sasuke replied. "She's being modest by making us think she's weaker."

"No," I said. "But that was a good guess. Something around here has an injury. I have to keep my chakra under control so it doesn't latch onto it."

Sakura blinked, "W-What do you mean?"

I pulled a kunai out and walked to the river. With a sigh, I jumped in and came out with a fish in my hands. Sasuke had a cautious look on his face while Naruto and Sakura watched with curiosity.

"A fish isn't the best example, but I wasn't going to use one of you as an example," I said.

"Well, that's a relief," Sakura said sarcastically.

I opened the palm of my hand and showed them the symbol of my family. "This is the symbol of my family," I told them.

I put a small cut in the fish, drawing a small amount of blood. I did some hand signs and opened my hand. The blood began to come out of the fish like lava from an erupting volcano and pooled above my hand, forming an orb above my hand. "This is the Life Draining Jutsu," I told them. "The…least painful of the jutsus I know that come from my family."

Naruto looked queasy and I was sure Sakura was about to faint.

"What do you do with it now?" Sasuke asked as he looked at the blood in my hand.

"Well, we make small cuts in case it was the wrong target and we can put it back then they'll heal back. But, that's for humans. I don't think it will work on a fish…so…"

I opened a pouch on the side of my belt and moved the blood into it.

Sakura screamed, "What are you doing?!"

"It's used for something else," I told her. "You're not quite ready for that story."

I noticed Sasuke's eyes narrow. I coughed a bit, "Alright. We start missions tomorrow. Eat supper tonight and I'll see you in the morning. Bye."

I jumped into the trees and made my way back to the city. I wasn't surprised when I found Sasuke at my house.

I sighed as I started to unlock the door, "What do you want?"

"What do you use the blood for?" He asked.

"Nothing," I responded.

I wasn't surprised when he came in without invitation either or when he froze at the door.

"Y-You never cleaned it?" He asked.

I stared at the bloodstains that splattered my walls and floor. The marks that welcomed me every time I came home. The deformed marks of bodies that had bled to death from my father killing them a few years ago and only yesterday had we caught him and I had killed him.

"Sasuke…" I said quietly, "We're masters of blood. It didn't matter how many times I replaced the floor or paint the walls. It's never going away."

I could still see them. My mother, brother, and sister…lifeless, cold, bloody. They didn't put up much of a fight. A normal woman and two Chunin against an ANBU captain? They didn't stand a chance. Especially if he had been hiding.

"No wonder you're so good at what you do," he commented as he stepped forward. "You had a constant reminder."

"Don't go there, Sasuke," I growled. "There's nothing 'good' about what I do. I was nothing more to a project. Before I killed him, he told me my purpose in this life. Why they had a third child. Because he knew that my brother and sister wouldn't become ANBU. It broke him that neither of his kids wanted to follow in his footsteps or inherited the blood mastery. So, they tried again and he raised me to make sure I was the ANBU he wanted me to be. He made sure."

I clenched my fists in anger, "And he got his wish. Then he realized what he had done. He realized he had screwed up. And he couldn't handle it. Raising a child to become a murderer…look at me. I'm 12 and I've already killed over 150 people."

I opened my hand, "No wonder the Hokage was worried. I'm a monster."

"You haven't always been," Sasuke said. "We used to have fun together. Back by the pond. We would play all the time."

I smiled slightly, "Yeah…but things have changed since then, Sasuke. I don't think they're going back. We're both too far gone. We both know that."

"We can't be too far gone," he said as he stood next to me. "There's actually a smile on your face. If you can still smile, there's hope for us."

I watched him as a small genuine smile graced his lips. Yes…there was hope. It wasn't much…but it was there.

I nodded, "I guess so. Especially if your arrogant ass can smile."

The smile was gone as my smile widened slightly.

"Are you going to tell Sakura?" He asked.

"That…was a long time ago," I said quietly. "And we have no one to make us keep it. Actually…"

I walked to my room and pulled out a necklace from a drawer.

Sasuke had followed me and looked at it, his eyes widening as he carefully took it from me, "You kept it?"

"Of course," I said. "Why would I get rid of it?"

It was a necklace with the Uchiha clan symbol on it. There were five black star beads placed evenly around it. It had been given to me when our official arranged marriage had been announced.

"I…I just thought…"

It had been Sasuke's mother's.

"I've been meaning to give it back," I told him.

He closed his hand around it then looked at me, his onyx eyes studying me, "I can't take it. If anyone deserves it, you do. Whether I marry you or not, she would want you to have it."

"Sasuke-"

"Don't argue with me," he said firmly. "Keep it. I don't think I'm ready to break the last thing my parents told me to do yet," he admitted softly. "Once I kill him…I'll consider taking it back, but until then…keep it."

I gently tipped his chin up and forced him into a kiss. I had kissed him plenty of times when we were younger and it freaked him out. Children and their cooties.

But Sasuke held me tight by my arms as he kissed me harder and with more passion, pouring his hate, anger, and sadness into the kiss. I felt something wet on my cheek and realized he was crying, but I didn't care.

After a moment, he pulled away and I realized we had both been crying. We both…just needed each other for a moment. A childhood friend to help share the pain.

I smiled as I hugged him, "You don't have to carry it alone anymore Sasuke. I'm here for you, just like I used to be."


	4. Becoming a Genin

Someone knocked on the door. I walked to it and opened it to see Naruto and Sakura. Sakura immediately looked pissed when Sasuke showed up behind me.

I just sighed, "Fine. I'll tell you. The Uchiha and Kusho clans have always been friends. Sasuke and I practically grew up in the same house. Then, I joined the ANBU and I just ran out of time. We were catching up. No big deal."

She didn't look convinced.

"We were going to get something to eat," Naruto said. "You know, as a team."

I sighed. I officially hated Kakashi.

"Very well," I agreed. I looked at Sasuke, "Are you coming?"

He shoved his hands in his pockets, "I guess."

At least I would get to know the other two better.

The three walked around me. Why was I the center of attention?

"So, do you have a boyfriend?" Naruto asked.

"You're going to learn very quickly that you don't have time for that," I told him. "Not until you're a Jounin, at least. So, either get there quickly, if you want a relationship, or forget it completely."

"What?!" Sakura screamed. "You've got to be joking!"

"Until you become a Jounin, you should be training or be on a mission," I told her.

"We're not training for the ANBU," Sasuke said. "We don't need to go through the same training you went through."

When we got to the ramen shop, the four of us sat down and ordered some ramen.

"So, tell me," I said. "What do you want to do with this ninja business?"

"I want to become the greatest Hokage ever!" Naruto replied.

Sasuke sighed, "You already know."

I looked at Sakura. She was quiet. "You don't have a clue, do you," I answered for her.

She blushed a bit, "Not really."

"That's good," I told her. "Not having a goal is better than going for one and failing."

"Hey!" Naruto yelled.

"That wasn't directed towards you," Sasuke said.

Sakura growled, "Sasuke can do whatever he wants!"

"I was speaking from experience, Sakura," I said. "I never wanted to be in the ANBU. I never wanted to be a ninja. I was going to do what my mother did. She made jewelry. I never got a chance to choose."

Naruto and Sakura sat silently as they thought over what I had just told them.

Someone cleared their throat and I looked back to see Kakashi smiling under his mask, "Fancy seeing the four of you here. Mind if I join you?"

He sat next to Naruto. "Did you enjoy training with Koko?" He asked.

"I didn't understand it, sensei," Naruto said. "She's making us focus on the area around us so we can tell each other apart during a fight. What is she talking about?"

"It's called Chakra Recognition," Kakashi explained. "Most of the time, you learn it through experience in a battle, but she's teaching you by making you meditate. In your case, it's best the three of you try this until your strength is about the same. Though sparring wouldn't hurt. Helps know what to expect, you should know that, Koko."

I didn't look at him. I didn't want to talk about it.

"Then they'll spar tomorrow," I said.

"No arguing?" Kakashi asked.

"I don't normally argue," I pointed out. "I follow orders, not give them."

"For the next ANBU captain, that's a problem," Kakashi said.

"I didn't want the position," I said.

I paid for my ramen and got up, "I'll see you in the morning. Pray for mercy."

I sighed as I walked home. I wasn't in the mood for more socializing and storytelling. Those three had grown up together. More or less, they probably knew each other pretty well. Sasuke kept to himself, so there was a chance they didn't know about the Uchiha family being dead which would make it a touchy subject for him.

"It's not like you to run away," Kakashi said as he walked out of an alley.

"I'm not running," I told him. "Clearly, I am walking. And I'm not ready to tell my past to two simple minded children that don't understand what it means to be a ninja."

"And you do?" Kakashi asked. "You were willing to tell Sasuke after losing contact with him for years."

I didn't react to that.

"I'm the perfect ninja," I told him. "I don't ask questions. I follow orders. I do what has to be done. But I never wanted to be. I never had a choice in what I became. I'm a monster because I hate myself, Kakashi. I don't want to be a ninja, but to live, I have to be a ninja. Because my father trained me to be ANBU ready, I am a ninja. And there is no escaping it."

Kakashi didn't seem surprised by the fact I didn't want to be a ninja.

"What about a normal ninja?" Kakashi asked. "I think you would enjoy that. You know that is what all this is about. For you to experience a normal life."

I nodded as I folded my arms behind my head, "But is it possible for me to live a normal life? Sakura is very…interested…in what Sasuke and I do."

"Are you going to tell her?"

"I told her that our clans were close friends," I said. "I don't think our past is her business. And it should be kept where it is…in the past."

"But obviously something happened today," Kakashi said. "So?"

"Perverted old man," I grumbled. "Nothing happened. I tried to give him his mother's necklace back…he wouldn't take it."

"Why do you have his mother's necklace?" Kakashi asked.

"She gave it to me…when the arranged marriage was officially announced."

"Why wouldn't he take it back?" Kakashi asked.

I didn't want to tell him, but I did need to talk about it. It was aggravating me. "He wasn't ready to take it back…he's not ready to…break…the arranged marriage."

Kakashi gave me a nudge, "That will make things tense if Sakura finds out."

I sighed, "Kakashi, don't go there. He said after he kills his brother he'd consider it. But he also said that if anyone deserved it, I did, whether he married me or not." I sighed as I grabbed my shirt just over my heart, "But…it made me feel a little more human. He…still cares."

"People do care about you, Koko. Maybe you should be the one meditating instead of the Genin."

I looked at him when we stopped in front of my house.

I would work with the Genin as a Genin, or at least try to. I would dress like they did, wearing only my headband. No more gloves. No more vest.

In the morning, I got dressed in a forest green tank top and black cargo caprice. I tied my headband around my arm to cover my ANBU tattoo draped a loose scarf around my neck.

As I stood in front of the mirror in my hall, I saw a stranger. My lavender hair was tied back, a few strands sticking out wildly but, they were always uncontrollable. I…looked so strange. Behind me, there was a splatter of the blood on the walls, a reminder of the killer I had become.

It almost made me go back and change, but I stopped myself when I saw my headband. I was a Genin now.

Today was a new day. And I was starting over. I was going to the beginning and starting there. Right there with Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke. I was going to do it the right way or no way at all.

I could see the determination in my eyes. I put on my sandals and ran out the door to meet up with the others for our first mission. When I got to the office, Kakashi was already there, talking to the Third.

Kakashi turned to look at me when the Third sighed. He smiled, "You're early."

I blinked, "Early? I was…oh."

As ANBU, we started missions at 6. Jounin started at 7. Chunin at 8. Genin at 9.

I sighed. "So…Kakashi, want to get breakfast?"

As we walked to…anywhere…that was opened this early, Kakashi gave me a once over, "You're dressed differently."

I nodded, "If I'm going to do this, I'm doing it right. I'm going to be a Genin too."

He moved my headband slightly and saw my ANBU tattoo peek out then let it cover up, "That's dangerous, Koko. If you get captured-"

"They're in for a surprise," I said.

He sighed, but agreed nonetheless. "At least you haven't traumatized them."

"Yep, done that," I said. "Had to explain that jutsu was not elemental and they didn't quite understand so I had to cut open a fish and pull its blood out. Then save it for later."

"What do you do with the blood?" He asked.

"Secret," I told him. "Some things really are best left unsaid."

He just nodded. We finally found some place open and got breakfast.

"When are the Chunin Exams?" I asked him.

"It's a bit early to be considering that," he said. "I don't know if they'll be ready."

I nodded, "I understand, but you don't want to leave them behind if the others progress. Do you know how annoying that will be?"

"If you participate in the Chunin Exams, you will have to be careful. I won't permit you to use any Blood Jutsus during any fights."

"I know," I muttered. "And don't worry. I won't. I don't plan on using them in front of them anymore. Unless it's to save their lives."

Kakashi nodded.

We waited for 9 to come and went to the Hokage Tower. Surprisingly, Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto were waiting for us.

"You're late again!" Naruto yelled.

Kakashi laughed, "We were here at 6 this morning. You're the ones that weren't here early."

"You used to have really good excuses," I grumbled. "What happened to them? Did they die?"

"Where were you?" Sasuke asked.

"I was with him," I told him. "We got breakfast because I got here at 6 by accident."

"How do you mess up 6 and 9?" Sakura asked.

"ANBU get here at 6," I told her. "Old habits die hard."

"What are you wearing?" Naruto asked.

I gave a slight smile, "If I have to do this, I'm doing it the right way. I'm going to be a Genin too. So, Kakashi has to take full responsibility of teaching all of us."

Kakashi sighed, "Wonderful. Ok, let's start the missions. First on our list is to clean up the river."

"What?!" The three of them exclaimed.

"You're Genin," Kakashi said. "Once these missions are over, I'll let you experience what it would be like to go on an S-Rank mission and let you see if you think you could handle it."

I frowned, "But Kakashi, I just said-"

"Well, you'll get over it," Kakashi said. "They think they're ready for the real world and you need to show them what the real world is about."

I sighed, "Let's go clean a river."

After cleaning the river, we had to help the nursing home habitants with their groceries. That was an adventure. Since half of them couldn't see to write and the ones that could couldn't spell.

"How do you know that's what that says?" Sakura asked as I pulled rice off the shelf.

"Lots of practice," I told her.

"You did these types of missions?" She sounded surprised.

"No," I replied, "But if you ever tried to read my handwriting, you'd be able to read this as well. Looks just about the same."

After a while, we checked out and handed off another bag to Naruto and Sasuke who took it to the nursing home. They returned with two more shopping lists and I sighed, "How many old people live in this place and why aren't the nurses there writing these?"

Sakura gave a light giggle as we went on the scavenger hunt for the items on the list. She came to me when she couldn't figure out something on the list, so I told her what it was. The teamwork was progressing, though it was slow.

Everyone was getting along, even Naruto and Sasuke. That alone was a miracle. Or maybe it was me and Sakura getting along that was a miracle. I wasn't sure.

After the last bags were delivered, Kakashi came up to us, "Good job, team. We're done for the day. Now, are you ready to experience a real mission?"

Kakashi handed me a scroll. I took it from him.

"Your objective is to get the scroll from her without hurting anyone in the village or destroying anything," Kakashi said. "Koko is free to do whatever she wants because as of right now, she is the enemy. You, however, have to keep the villagers safe."

… …Sasuke… …

I looked at Koko. She wasn't looking at Kakashi anymore. Her eyes were focused on the scroll in her hands. They were slowly going blank.

"Begin," Kakashi said.

It happened faster than I could see. She was there, then she was gone. There was a swirl of dust there, but she was gone.

Kakashi pulled out his book, "I would start looking if I were you. Or be ready for an attack. She will attack you and I can't promise it won't be a fatal attack."

I looked at him, "What did you do to her?"

"She was like this on every ANBU mission," he told me. "Her eyes glaze over and she gives a fatal wound to her enemies. Right now, you are her enemies. You should probably get out of the village because the villagers are at risk."

The three of us started jumping across the buildings.

"Where should we go?!" Sakura asked.

"The training ground," I told her. "It's a place we all know and we may get the advantage on her."

Naruto agreed and we headed there, disappearing into the foliage around, waiting for her to show. She suddenly appeared on the rock in the middle of the fast current river. Those blank eyes had already spotted all three of us, I could tell when our eyes met.

A wicked smile formed on her lips. "You wanted to know," she said as she jumped on to the land. "Come find out."

"What should we do?" Naruto asked quietly.

"I can distract her," I said. "Sakura, try to find a weak spot. Naruto, you hit it."

I jumped out, standing in front of her. I was hoping that would distract her enough, but it didn't even faze her. Instead, a grin took the smile's place. "Hello Sasuke. Are you ready to try and get the scroll?"


	5. Safety Word

… …Sasuke… …

As I attacked Koko, her slow movements told me one thing. She was toying with me. We weren't ready for a ninja like her. Even when Naruto and Sakura were helping me, she wasn't even trying to dodge their attacks. She was just…playing with us.

We were worn out when Kakashi showed up. Koko looked at him and a wicked grin formed on her lips. "Have you come to play too, Kakashi?"

"Monster," Kakashi said.

Like a spell had been broken, her eyes cleared up and she fell to the ground and held her head.

Kakashi was still reading his book as he stood next to her, "Now do you understand?"

"Why didn't you fight her, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked.

"What did you notice about her fight with you?" Kakashi asked.

"She was toying with us," I said with a glare. "She held back on purpose."

Koko looked at me, "Don't take it offensively. I used to do that all the time. I clearly remember taunting you all the time when we were little. It became a habit in fighting."

"But what does the word 'monster' have to do with anything?" Sakura asked. "That doesn't make any sense."

"Think of it as a safety word," Kakashi said. "If she ever gets like that while on a mission and you think she's going to attack you."

"You know there are terms and conditions with that," Koko told the Jounin. "Sasuke's going to be the only one that can say it and it actually work."

"Why's that?" I asked.

"There has to be a relationship with the person that says it," Koko explained. "I haven't known either of them long enough."

She still hadn't gotten off the ground. Monster… The one word that could bring her out of this state of mind that made her unbeatable. She…truly was a monster in that state. If we were on the same playing field…would she kill me?

I hoped that she wouldn't, but Kakashi said that the villagers were in trouble. She was able to dig so deep into her mind she couldn't distinguish friend from foe, but she could tell us apart. But, we were all just people. There were no relationships when she was in that mode.

It was a dangerous, but helpful state of mind.

"What happened to you?" I asked her as I walked up to her.

She looked up at me then looked away, "Do…you remember the blood from that fish?"

"Yeah," I replied.

"It doesn't really have a name. It's like the Sharingan, but it's powered off blood. When…I'm told to fight my hardest or whatever…don't fail…it activates. There's nothing I can do about it. It just activates. I'm sent into overdrive and everyone becomes…this chakra form walking around. I can barely tell anyone apart. But…I become brutal. And there's nothing I can do about it."

It was clear this was a part of herself she wasn't proud of herself. A secret she had known for a long time, yet never shared with me. Though we hadn't spoken in years, she was my closest friend. She always had been…always would be.

When we were younger, we had both agreed to the arranged marriage because our parents said we would get to live together forever. Of course, at that age, we thought spending the night at each other's house was so much fun because we would stay up late and have lots of fun until our moms made us go to bed.

We didn't understand marriage at that age.

I understood it now. As I watched her now…being the last chance for the Uchiha clan to survive…my parents had picked a good person for me to marry.

My blood boiled in my veins. Itachi had killed his future wife. He had killed Koko's cousin, Mimi. She had been at the house as well, along with the rest of my family.

As I looked at Koko…I remembered when I told her about Mimi being dead and what Itachi had told me.

Koko had fallen earlier that day…the blood from the wound suddenly started to float as her eyes began to glaze over and seemed to empty out. But her father came by and got her, then took her home. That was the last time I saw her until she came to training.

That…emptiness…it was similar to Itachi's. Only…colder…and I could feel how badly she wanted to kill me. It was a terrifying feeling.

As I watched her, I realized…she knew what it was like to be on the other end of that gaze. Her father had it. How many times she had to face it…I couldn't imagine. I didn't want to face it again…


	6. Black Fire of Motivation

As we continued our D-ranked missions, it was clear Naruto was getting agitated with them. Sasuke was as well and Sakura, while I didn't complain. I was happy being a Genin.

Not having the challenge and stress of A and S-rank missions was a relief. After weeks of missions, we got a break.

I smiled as I sat in a tree, enjoying the day. It was nice to take a break, even though the missions were so simple.

"What are you doing?" Sasuke asked as he walked under the tree I was sitting in.

"Relaxing," I told him. "You should try it."

"I want you to train me," he said.

"I can't do that," I replied. "I'm a Genin now. Ask Kakashi."

"If you're a Genin, shouldn't you call him Kakashi-sensei?" Sasuke asked with a smirk.

"Old habits die hard," I replied as I folded my arms behind my head and closed my eyes. "So, what do you want me to train you in?"

"Are you agreeing?" he asked.

"It just depends on what it is," I replied. "It better be important to bother me on my day off."

"Sasuke!" Sakura called. "Kakashi-sensei is looking for us. He says that we have a mission coming up."

"Does Naruto know?" Sasuke asked.

Sakura paused a few feet away from him, still not noticing me, "U-Uh yeah, I've already told him. Shouldn't we find Koko?"

"I already know," I told her.

She nearly jumped out of her skin then glared at me. I was getting tired of her little competition. I wasn't after Sasuke at all. I was after a normal life.

I pulled my knee up, resting my arm on it as I stared over the field I had a view of. I could hear a river, but had no view of it. The summer flowers were blooming, decorating it pink and purple.

This was the life I had wanted.

Simplicity at its finest.

I hoped one day to achieve it. That was my true goal. And I knew I couldn't achieve it with Sasuke. Not as long as his revenge was the black fire of motivation in his heart.

I sighed as I dropped from the tree.

Sakura squealed with excitement, "He said it was going to be completely different from our other missions. I wonder what it'll be."

In a flash, Sasuke and Sakura were both on the ground and I had a kunai at a child's throat.

I just stared at the child as tears filled his eyes, his comrades both dropping their weapons in fear. "I'm sorry!" He apologized. "Boss told me to attack you!"

"You're not old enough to have a boss," I hissed at him. "So, you better start giving a better excuse or it's off with your head, kid."

"Let go of the Honorable Grandson!" A guy with dark sunglasses demanded.

"Yeah, let go!" The kid I had demanded.

I pushed the kunai closer to his neck, earning a whimper from him, "You're in no place to make demands. I don't really care if you're the grandson of the Hokage. I've killed people more important than you before. Learn this quick, kid. You don't mess with the ANBU."

No one moved except for Sasuke who sighed. "Let him go, Koko. He's the kid that follows Naruto around."

I put my kunai up and grinned at the kid, "Scared ya pretty good, didn't I?"

The kid glared at me, "You big jerk! Why would you do that?!"

"So you'll learn your place," I told him. "I've heard Naruto talk about you. You don't want people to see you as the Hokage's grandson, right? What are you going to do when someone isn't actually afraid to kill you? Is Naruto your boss?"

"Yeah, so what?" He asked.

"What's your name?"

"Konohamaru," he yelled. "Remember it! I'll be the next Hokage!"

I smiled as I put my hand on his head, "That's a good goal to have, kid. Good luck."

I turned and walked away.

Sasuke smirked, "You're getting soft."

"I call it adjusting," I told him.

When we got to the training area, Naruto was already there, sparring with Kakashi. I smiled, glad Naruto was trying to get stronger.

Naruto stopped and looked at me with a grin, "Run into trouble?"

"A boy with two friends and a creepy old guy that stalks him everywhere?" I asked. "Yeah, I almost killed him."

Naruto's jaw dropped in surprise. "You almost killed Konohamaru?!"

"You sent him after me," I stated.

"I sent him after Sasuke!" He yelled while pointing at Sasuke.

"Oops," I muttered. "Well, try again and I'll be sure not to get in the way. I did teach him a lesson though. One he won't soon forget."

Kakashi coughed, "Aren't you wondering about the mission?"

"Yes!" Sakura nodded excitedly.

I wondered why she was so excited.

"The four of you will assist in the festival this weekend. You'll be paired up and separated each day. Friday, Sasuke and Naruto will take tickets while Sakura and Koko will be assigned to face painting. Saturday, Naruto and Koko will work an arcade while Sasuke and Sakura assist in judging. On Sunday, Sasuke and Koko will work the petting zoo while Naruto and Sakura deal with crowd control at the concert. And yes, you will be doing it all day."

"So, is this three different missions or one mission?" I asked.

"Just one," Kakashi said. "But, it is a high C-rank. Congratulations."

I just sighed. Wonderful.

"Wait," I said. "That's two days away. Are we off for those two days?"

"Yes," he replied then walked away.

I grinned. A long holiday. I was about to walk away when Sasuke grabbed me.

"We're training," he told me.

"I didn't agree to that," I told him.

Sakura glared at me. "I want to train too. What are you teaching?"

"I didn't say I was. Sasuke just said he wanted me to train him in something and never told me what it was because you came. So, I haven't agreed to training. And I can't train you. I'm a Genin now. I can't train you. Tell Kakashi."

I shoved my hands in my pockets and started to walk away, but I felt the attack coming. If I didn't try to block, it would hit me. That expression would be priceless. I smiled as I used a simple replacement jutsu and went to a nearby tree.

Sasuke was absolutely stunned when the kunai slammed into me. Sakura gasped and Naruto was just stunned. I chuckled as I dropped from the tree.

"So, what is it you want to know?" I asked which scared all of them pretty badly.

"Weapons," Sasuke told me.

I blinked, "Weapons? Why? You're fine."

"You throw them silently," he said. "Like you can control the sound they make. How is that?"

"It's forbidden," I told him. "An ANBU secret. If it wasn't a habit, I wouldn't do it, but I can't stop. I can't teach you unless you are ANBU. I am sorry, Sasuke. Otherwise I would teach you."

"What can you teach us?" Naruto asked. "Is there any way you can make us stronger?"

I jumped onto the rock in the middle of the river, "Get me off this rock."

The three of them stared at me.

"That's too easy," Naruto said. "You're obviously joking."

"Then why aren't you trying?" I asked.

The three of them attacked. With ease, I knocked them all into the river. This continued for hours. But their teamwork was improving. Naruto had tried his Shadow Clone Jutsu many times, but it never worked. Sasuke had tried his Fire Ball Jutsu and it didn't work.

The three of them were on the shore, exhausted. I jumped off the rock and put my hands in my pocket as I walked to them.

"I applaud your efforts. Your teamwork is improving. In a few years, I might be in trouble," I told them.

Naruto glared at me, "We'll try again tomorrow, believe it!"

I smiled, "Right. I'm taking tomorrow off. If any of you bother me, you'll have to face that monster Kakashi unleashed last time."

I helped them up, "Go get something to eat and get some rest. You'll feel better in the morning and I'll teach you a new trick…or something, then you better not bother me."


	7. Relaxing

The first person at the training area was Sasuke. That wasn't surprising. The fact that someone was interested was annoying.

"What is this 'trick'?" he asked.

I didn't answer as I stood with my hands in my pockets. I wasn't excited about the training. Of course, there were different ways of doing it. They were still young but they would need to know.

I yawned as Sakura walked up, excitement in her eyes as she asked the same thing Sasuke did. I didn't answer her either. Only she persisted in asking over and over.

Finally, Naruto arrived.

I yawned again as I looked at the trio. "Welcome to one of the hardest things you will ever learn," I told them. "Relaxing."

They looked pissed.

"You brought us all the way out here to relax?!" Naruto yelled.

"And if you don't, I'll kill you," I told him.

The three of them just stared at me, confused why I was so serious about this.

"You noticed the first day how laid back Kakashi was," I said. "But at the same time, he's constantly on his guard. That's how you need to be. So, while you're mastering your ninja skills, you need to master your relaxing skills. Now leave me alone."

I was surrounded by Narutos, who were all pissed. In a flash, all of them were gone except for the real one that I had in a head lock.

"You can tell the clones apart?" Sakura asked.

"When you master today's lesson, you'll also be able to control your chakra better. By relaxing, you relax your muscles that are otherwise tense from being on constant alert. This messes with your chakra flow. Guys, take the day off and enjoy it. Just breathe. There's a river, go swimming." I looked at Sasuke, "That means you too, Sasuke. I'm watching you and I'll beat your face into the ground if I find out you trained today. Just have a day. Chill out. Breathe."

I walked away and went to the tree I had been sitting in the day before that had the view of the field and flowers. The sweet scents wrapped around me and soothed me. Before I knew it, I had three Genin staring up at me, completely at a loss of what to do to relax.

I looked at the trio and sighed. "Really? Do I have to walk you through it?"

"We've never had a day off before," Sakura explained. "Well, Naruto always goofed off, but that's not really relaxing, is it?"

I got out of the tree and sighed. "God, you're all hopeless. Let's go."

They followed me through the village then to the top of Hokage Mountain where we just sat. The warm breeze soothed me while the others seemed overwhelmed by the view of the view.

"I've never seen the village from here," Sakura said in awe.

The four of us sat, Naruto talking excitedly about whatever came to his mind, the rest of us commenting on occasion. I really just wanted to be in my tree enjoying my field. But instead, I was babysitting three kids that didn't know how to relax on command.

I stood up and stretched. The three looked at me.

"What? I'm not babysitting you. You know how to relax now. You've enjoyed yourselves. I'm going back to my tree and I'm going to enjoy my field where I should be."

Sakura gave me a deadpanned look, "That's not very comforting."

"I was told two days off. Not two days of training you how to figure out life," I told her.


	8. Using Force

I sat in my tree, content with life. The breeze was perfect, the temperature was perfect, the sun was perfect, the clouds were gone. Nothing could go wrong. I had gotten rid of the three Genin I was supposed to deal with. Life…was good.

"I can't relax," Naruto whined under my tree.

Or not.

"Go away," I told him.

"There must be a reason you want us to relax," Sakura argued.

"I told you," I said, my eyes closed and my arms folded behind my head. "Chakra flow."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Sasuke asked. "You're not making sense."

I sighed as I rolled off the branch and landed in front of the three. "Back to the training grounds, go. And pray to whatever gods you believe in because I'm killing all of you."

The three paused in their stride as they watched me walk by them.

"You better hurry the hell up, I'm only telling you once."

When we got to the training grounds, they stood around me.

"I'm going to hit all of you," I told them. "The sensation you feel after is going to scare you at first, but it will help you understand the mental state you need to be in so you can relax. Whenever I hit you, I want you to count to 30 then perform your best jutsu."

"But I don't have a best jutsu," Sakura said.

"I want you to just endure it and learn what it feels like so you can leave me alone."

She glared at me.

"Ready?" I asked.

They nodded, but they were all tense. They were definitely scared.

"Deep breath," I said.

They all inhaled.

"Let it go."

They let it go. We repeated it that a few times then I disappeared and wacked all of them.

I waited a moment. Naruto's Shadow Clones are more than he had ever created before and Sasuke's Fire Ball is much larger and stronger than he had ever done.

I shoved my hands in my pockets. "Now that you know what it feels like, only you know how to get there. Good luck."

"But-" Naruto and Sakura tried to stop me.

"Stop bothering me. Go take a nap or something. Drink some tea, hang out with a friend, I don't care. Braid someone's hair, eat some ramen, eat some chocolate, go kill someone if you want. Just leave me alone. I can't relax if you don't leave me alone. Go bother Kakashi. He's the sensei of our group. He'll figure out something for you to do if you can't figure it out."

"Koko," Sasuke said, unable to look at me, "Perhaps…we could relax in the field…your tree overlooks."


	9. Painting Faces

I sighed as I took the three of them to the field that my tree over looked. It was on my family's property, so it was fine for us to be there. When we got to the center, I fell on my back and folded my arms behind my head and closed my eyes.

I didn't care what they did. I heard all of them move around me.

The person next to me was Sasuke. Next to him was Sakura and on the other side of her was Naruto.

"Lay down," I told them. "Close your eyes. Let your mind go where it wants to go. And Sakura, if you giggle, you will be moved away from Sasuke."

Sasuke immediately stood up and stepped over me then sat next to me.

"What is this going to do?" Sasuke asked.

"It's like daydreaming," I said. "But, it's not. It's a way of cleansing your soul. You need it. Don't look at me like that."

I opened my eyes to see his glare fade to shock. He looked away from me. "I don't want to let my mind wander," he said. "I know where it's going to go."

"Lay down," I told him. "Close your eyes. And just empty your mind."

I took his hand in mine, "It's easy once you get used to it. The first few times, you fall asleep. But, you'll get used to it. Just let the wind take you where you want to go. Back to the good days. When things weren't so bad."

He looked down at me, "Is that where you go?"

"Now I do. I used to have to face what I had done on the ANBU mission. It made killing easier."

Sasuke looked over the field while I closed my eyes, still keeping his hand in mine. Finally, he laid down right next to me, bringing a smile to my face. I could smell him again. He still had that fresh smell. A mix of the pine trees he had in his back yard and the one Sakura tree he had that covered his pond.

I felt my hand tighten around his. This was just like old times. Only, we would talk and laugh and chase each other. But, Naruto and Sakura would probably think we had lost our minds.

After a few hours, I heard snoring. I opened my eyes and sat up. It was Sakura and Naruto. I yawned as I stood up and noticed the sun was starting to set. It hadn't been a terrible day. Besides the three idiots aggravating me.

"Were you just going to leave us here?" Sasuke asked.

"Yeah," I replied glancing back at him then looking back at the sunset with a smile. "Maybe I won't have to kill the three of you after all."

He stood next to me as I watched the sunset. Neither of us said anything, but I could tell he felt better. I stretched and looked at the two sleeping still.

I chuckled as I shoved my hands in my pockets, "Well, I'm going home. Long day tomorrow with Sakura."

"Have fun," He said with a smirk.

"I'm looking forward to my day with Naruto," I told him with a smile. "You're going to have a field day with Sakura."

He shot a glare at me while I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "Bye Sasuke."

As I walked away, I sent a glance back. He was blushing with his hand on his cheek. I just smiled as I shook my head. He was still just as adorable as he was when he was little.

"Are you done flirting?" Kakashi asked as he leaned against the tree.

"Are you done reading your weird books?" I asked as I crossed my arms. "What are you doing here?"

"Wondering what my team was doing. They weren't training today and I was worried about Sasuke not training."

"They were relaxing," I said. "You know that will help with their training."

"What happened to just being a Genin?"

"Doesn't mean I can't advise them. You're their chakra teacher."

"You and Sakura won't have a problem tomorrow, will you?" he asked, looking at me seriously. "Those kids will want good face paint by ninja."

I smiled, "No problems on my side. The golden trio might need a pep talk though."

He sighed as he rubbed the back of his head, "Great."

I watched as he walked to the three and talked to them about whatever. Probably not fighting amongst each other or something. I knew Sasuke and Naruto could get over their differences but Sakura would be a bit more difficult.

In the morning, I was at the face painting stand with Sakura.

"I think we should paint our faces," I said as we waited for the festival to open.

Sakura looked at me clearly turned off by the idea. "That's so childish though. Why would you want to paint your face?"

"I've always worn a mask," I replied as I walked to the mirror with the paint in my hands. "It's only natural to hide my face under paint."

I painted black bat wings around my eyes with small red dots going down my cheeks. I put some white swirls in the mask to give it a girlish look so the girls would like it and wouldn't think it was so scary.

I looked at Sakura and smiled. "Well? What do you think?"

Sakura just stared at me. "Do you really plan on painting kids' faces like that?"

"If they ask for it," I replied. "Just send them to me if you can't do it."

Sakura sighed, "Fine. I don't want a bat though."

I grinned at her giving in. "What do you want?"

"I don't know. Nothing scary though. Make it pretty."

I smiled as I started painting her face with blue. Her eyes moved behind me and she almost moved when her eyes lit up. I knew Sasuke was walking by. I grabbed her arm to hold her still. "Don't move," I commanded. "I'm almost done. Then you can go see Sasuke."

"What are you two losers doing?" I heard Sasuke ask.

"Shut up, Sasuke," I shot back. "I'm almost done then you can have Sakura back."

I glanced at Naruto who was standing next to me, hovering to see what I was doing. "Woah! You're incredible! You have to paint my face too!"

"You're not working with me if you have some lame face paint on your face," Sasuke said.

Sakura glared at me, "I told you."

I smiled as I stepped back then looked at Sasuke, "What's lame about this masterpiece, Sasuke? This isn't a two year old's work. I'm a professional."

He did look a little stunned then I looked at Naruto, "Alright Naruto, let's decorate you up."

I used the natural whisker marks on his face as an idea and turned his face into a tiger. I grinned as I looked at him. "Fabulous."

Naruto looked at himself in the mirror and grinned, "I look incredible!"

I took the black brush and put a streak across Sasuke's cheek when he wasn't paying attention. I grinned, "You look great Sasuke. Best I've done yet. Have fun collecting tickets," I told them while pushing them out.


	10. Arcade

All day, Sakura and I painted these children's faces. I think they were happy. We even painted some adults' faces. They just couldn't resist the idea of having a cool mask or design on their face.

Sakura and I were too busy for her to really talk about Sasuke, but she did complain all day. Finally at 1:30 in the morning, we were allowed to leave and meet up with Naruto and Sasuke.

"I won't be angry if you just tell me what's going on between you and Sasuke," Sakura said as we walked towards the ticket booth on the other side of the festival. "Just…tell me. Please."

I laughed, "You're going to be pissed."

She snatched me up, "I swear if you're pregnant-"

I pushed her back, "No. Nothing like that. When we were younger, we were arranged to be married. We were both fine with it at six. But the way they had explained it was always living with your best friend. What six year old wouldn't want to? So, we were happy to accept those terms. I was eight when I joined the ANBU and my relationship with Sasuke was gone. With my father dead, the arranged marriage is void."

"Then why are you competing with me for him?" She asked icily. "Do you just not want him to see any other girl as an option other than you? He'll prefer you because you're powerful, but that doesn't mean he'll ever love you."

I smiled distantly, "I don't expect him to love me. I expect him to use me for power. Just like you'll use me to find out more information about Sasuke, which I won't give. Naruto will come for advice as well. I can only help you become a better ninja. Not a better lover for my best friend." I gave her a deadly look, "I'm an assassin and a protector of the Hokage. This is simply a vacation for me. A babysitting job." I yawned as I walked ahead of her, "I don't care who Sasuke's love life involves. Or if he ever has one besides the arranged marriage we had."

She sighed dreamily, "I bet that was incredible."

"We were six," I told her.

When I saw Naruto and Sasuke, they looked just as exhausted as Sakura. I smiled at the three. "Go home and get some sleep guys. I'll see you at 5."

"Your house is closest," Sasuke said. "Can't we just stay there?"

I sighed, "Up slackers. My house is 15 minutes away. I'm not carrying you."

I ended up carrying them. Sasuke wasn't completely asleep, but he was drifting. I kicked my door opened and Sasuke stumbled to the couch for a moment while I put Naruto and Sakura in the other bedrooms. When I went back to the couch, Sasuke was asleep. I smiled as I grabbed a wash rag and gently washed the paint off his face. The wetness startled him and woke him up.

I lightly stroked his cheek with the back of my fingers. "Go back to sleep Sasuke. I'm just getting the paint off your face."

He closed his eyes and his breathing evened out. I smiled slightly and gently kissed his forehead, "Goodnight."

Sakura and Naruto were so asleep I could have rubbed their faces raw. I carefully picked all of their pockets, getting their house keys and went to their houses, stealing clean clothes for all of them.

When that was finally finished, it was three in the morning.

It wasn't even worth two hours of sleep. I yawned and washed off my face then grabbed a blanket for Sasuke. I removed his headband and shoes then draped the blanket over him. I did the same with Sakura and Naruto then found a book to read.

Around 4, I heard the door open. I sighed as I looked at Kakashi.

"You should start locking that," he told me.

"I'm awake," I told him. "Why should I lock it? And who's stupid enough to come in here? There's blood on the wall and floor as a welcoming."

He chuckled, "I see you're taking care of my team."

"Because you're not. Which reminds me."

I got up, closing the book with a snap. Sasuke grunted a bit, "What?"

"Get up," I told him. "It's 4 in the morning and you need a shower. Sakura and I will take longer to get ready so you and Naruto need to get out of the way."

"At least make breakfast," he said as he sat up. He stared at the clothes on the coffee table, "You went to my house?"

"Be glad I had the decency to do that rather than strip you naked and wash them," I said.

He sighed as he got up. When I looked at the door, Kakashi was still standing there, "Not going to invite me in?"

"Only if you're helping with breakfast. What are you doing here anyway?"

He walked in, closing the door behind him. "I heard you didn't leave until 1:30 this morning. Just wondering how that went. Sakura's parents were pretty concerned."

"Tell them she's staying with me. I'm sure they'll be thrilled, but she fell asleep walking to my house last night. There's no way they can go home. I carried all three of them here."

"You didn't get any sleep at all, did you?" Kakashi asked with a knowing look.

"I better get some tonight or it's going to be a rough day tomorrow."

"You're just working an arcade today," Kakashi said. "That should be easy enough."

"With Naruto. He'll want to play the games."

I started making breakfast for the three Genin and myself, "Are you staying for breakfast?" I asked Kakashi.

"No, I've never liked your cooking. Good luck."

He walked out and I rolled my eyes. Naruto walked into the kitchen while rubbing his eyes, "What happened?"

"You fell asleep while we were on the way to my house last night," I told him. "I had to carry all three of you here. Then I broke into your house and got you a change of clothes. There's another shower, so get in it."

"What about breakfast?" He whined.

"I'm working on it," I growled. "Keep that up and you won't get any. Get in the shower!"

He took off.

"Watch it, Naruto!" I heard Sakura yell.

I sighed, "Stop yelling. Not everyone slept last night."

I heard Sasuke sigh as he sat down, "Why didn't you sleep?"

"By the time I got done finding Sakura and Naruto's house, it was three. It's four now. We have an hour to get to that festival thing. Sakura and I still need a shower and I'm not done cooking breakfast. If I have to carry you back again tonight, I will train all of you so hard, you won't be able to take missions for the next month."

I put breakfast on the table and went to get my shower. After I was ready for the day, I didn't feel as tired. I was always just a time bomb when I didn't sleep. The longer I went, the sooner I would explode.

There was hardly any food left and Sakura wasn't at the table when I got back to the kitchen table.

I just stared at the practically cleaned out plates, "Glad you liked it."

I pulled out some cereal and a bowl then started eating as I fell on the couch.

"Jeez, we wouldn't have eaten it all if we had known you hadn't had any," Naruto said.

"What about Sakura?" I asked.

"She's on a diet," Sasuke said.

I looked at him as he sat next to me, his arms folded over his chest. "You're joking."

"No."

I chuckled wickedly, "That makes everything so much better."

Naruto sat on the other side of me, "What do you mean?"

"In ANBU training, if we didn't eat our body weight every day, training would wear our bodies down rather than build us up because of lack of nutrition. Wait until Kakashi hears about this."

When Sakura was finally ready, she clung to Sasuke the entire way.

"Shame you aren't painting faces again," Naruto said. "You were really good."

"Yeah," I said. "But we get to take tickets and hand out prizes."

"Can you take the tickets? I'll lose count," Naruto admitted while rubbing the back of his neck.

"Yeah," I said with a shrug.

At exactly five, Naruto and I were in the arcade. I yawned as I looked at all the stupid little prizes were supposed to give out. Really? Bouncy balls, spin tops, slinkys, c'mon.

"Man, I'd be at that goldfish game," I told Naruto. "I'd freaking love to have a fish."

"Sasuke said you two were supposed to get married," Naruto said. "Is that true?"

I propped my head on my hand as we waited for customers. "Yeah. We were six. It sounded like a good idea at the time. But the way they explained marriage was living with your best friend. Who wouldn't?"

Naruto nodded, "It doesn't sound so bad when you put it like that. Guess you were lucky to have a guy as your best friend."

I laughed, "Yeah. But the agreement is void now that my father is dead. We're free to do whatever we want."

Naruto shifted uncomfortably, "Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah."

"Was it hard killing your father?"

"No," I told him. "That…thing you saw when Kakashi told you to get the scroll from me is what went out on ANBU missions. I have targets and I kill them. In that state, I don't care who they are or why I'm after them. I'm set to kill. And that's what I'm going to do."

"Is everyone on the ANBU like that?" He asked.

"No," I replied. "That's a family trait."

Finally, the kids started coming in. The parents weren't particularly excited about seeing Naruto in there, but I eased their uncertainty by moving my headband to my neck and allowing my ANBU tattoo to show.

Naruto didn't lose his optimism though. He made all the games interesting and challenged the better players by making the games harder for them. I did as Naruto asked and counted tickets while he handed out prizes.

Naruto was a lot better to hang out with than I had given him credit for. He liked to ask questions though.

"Do you think you can help me with my chakra?" He asked. "I slacked off in the Academy. People always avoided me and I found out why. It's because of the Nine-Tailed Fox demon. I couldn't figure out why people didn't like me."

"If you're willing to put forth the effort, I'll catch you up with Sasuke and Sakura."

"Really?" He asked excitedly. "I'll be as good as Sasuke?"

"It'll take time for you to catch up with him," I said. "Sasuke put some serious effort to get where he is. But, yes. If you're willing, I can get you to a Genin level. Sasuke is still a Genin level chakra user. Advanced, yes, but still Genin."

By the end of the day, I was starting to feel the wear down. When we found Sasuke and Sakura, I had no idea where I was. Then I noticed the weird pumpkins and cakes.

"Are we carrying you home?" Sasuke asked with a smirk.

I blinked slowly then turned and walked away from them, heading to my house. Someone grabbed my hand and I felt my arm go around someone's shoulder. I looked at Sasuke.

He just gave me a small smile. "Get some sleep, Koko. You need it."

"Tch, cause you know. How was your day with Sakura?"

"We talked about how to qualify for the arranged marriage," he answered quietly.

I sighed as I rested my head on his shoulder, "I'm sorry Sasuke. It wasn't my place to say more about it. You know the first thing she accused me of was being pregnant."

He sighed, "That doesn't surprise me."

I closed my eyes as he pulled me closer.

"Can I sleep with you tonight?" He asked. "Your couch isn't exactly comfortable."

"I don't care," I muttered. "If you bother me, I'll kill you."


	11. Scare

Through my childhood, I had slept with Sasuke and Itachi. No doubt, through my life as a Genin, I would sleep with Sasuke again and Naruto too. Life as a ninja, there was no privacy and there was no need for it. Teammates were family, they were going to learn to sleep with them for warmth eventually.

I must have been more tired than I thought, because Sasuke and I were tangled up in the sheets and each other when I heard a scream. Within seconds, Sasuke was in the floor, the sheets were ripped and I was running out of the room, trying to figure out what was attacking us.

When I saw that all was fine, I looked at Sakura who was absolutely stunned, but angry. "What happened?" I asked her. "Did someone break in?"

She clenched her fists as fire took her eyes, "You were sleeping with MY Sasuke!"

Oh. HELL. No.

I slammed her against the wall, pinning her throat so tight, her face was turning blue, "If you scream like that again and there is no danger, I will make a bloody massacre of your body. Is that clear?"

I released her and walked back into the bedroom, collapsing onto the bed. As I stared at the clock, I tried to figure out how many hours we had until we needed to get up. At least three. That was enough for me.

I heard the door close. Why was Sakura in my room? "Are you ok?" I heard Sasuke ask. What the hell sort of game was she playing?

"Shut up and go to sleep," I told her.

She sighed. I found it strange that she sat on my side of the bed.

"What?" I asked with an annoyed sigh.

"Are you?" She asked again, clearly concerned about me. "You were a lot…angrier than you should have been."

"You're in my house, Sasuke," I said, playing her game. "I always protected you when you came over. Just like you protected me when I went to yours. Why would it be any different now? I'm just protecting Naruto and Sakura as well. We talked about this the other day. She knows about the arranged marriage and she knows that I'm not interested in you. She knows we're good friends and that we're probably a few steps more comfortable with each other than we should be, but you know, I don't really. That's how we were when we were little, that's how we are now. Close friends with really strange barriers. Just like always."

I saw that smirk on Sasuke's lips, though the rest of his face was hidden by shadow. "Strange barriers…that sounds about right."

I was about to question what she meant when she cut me off with a deep kiss.

I flipped out and kicked her off.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" I yelled as I stared at the Sasuke on the floor. "You freak!"

He glared at me as he poofed into Sakura, "You think I enjoyed that?!"

"You must have! You did it!" I yelled back. "Get the hell out!"

She jumped to her feet, "Not until you tell me what you and Sasuke were doing in bed together!"

I sighed, "Sleeping. Like normal 12 year olds."

"You're not normal," she seethed.

"You're right," I said. "I'm a murderer. Not a whore. Now, get out. I want to get more sleep before I have to herd cattle all day."

She took a few steps back from me and opened the door, moving by Sasuke without talking to him.

He looked at her then looked at me, "A murderer?"

"She kissed me," I told him as he closed the door.

He raised an eyebrow, but it didn't last long as I pulled him into a kiss then pushed him away.

"I feel normal," I sighed with relief. "Finally. I can sleep in peace."


	12. Messages in Blood

I was almost asleep when I felt something hot on my face.

"Sasuke, I swear to you, if you don't let me sleep, I will end your life."

"You can't play with fire and not get burned, Koko," he whispered.

I opened my eyes to see him hovering inches above my face. His face was so confused, like he didn't know what was going on, but his eyes glistened with longing and pain.

Like he needed to be healed again.

I gently reached up, stroking his cheek with my fingers. His eyes closed at the contact as my fingers ran through his hair.

"Tell me what's wrong, Sasuke," I whispered. "What's haunting your dreams?"

Slowly, his eyes opened and his dark eyes stared down at me, "I saw a room. Here…in your house. Your old room."

I sat up as I let the words sink in.

I knew what he had seen. Even though I hadn't entered the room in years, I could still see it clear as day.

Walking into the house was just a taste of what he had left in my room. Written over and over on all the walls were messages of darkness. Messages of death. Messages that made me a great ANBU assassin, but made my heart cold. It was insanity. The floor had been covered in blood and there was a body that was laying in the middle of the floor. He had made it look like me and made it look like I had gotten up and walked out of the room.

"Koko?"

I looked at Sasuke, "Why did you go in there?"

"To see if there was a bed in there," he replied."

I nodded as I looked away. "Well…now you know."

Warm lips pressed against my temple. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

I nodded as I laid back down, "It's fine, Sasuke. You would have found out eventually."

He moved to where he was once again hovering over me. "Are you ok?"

I nodded, "Get some sleep. We have to herd animals."

He closed the space between us, sealing our lips together. I felt the sheets under me move as he grasped them tightly. I felt him hesitate as he put his leg over my waist, seeing as how his current position wasn't comfortable.

I attempted to push myself to a sitting position, but Sasuke stopped me when I had myself propped up by my elbows.

He broke the kiss and gently stroked my face, "I'm not the only one carrying a burden, Koko. You're still here…surrounded by this place. He's gone, like your sanity. You need to get it back."

I glared at him, "My sanity is fine."

He kissed my forehead, "Goodnight."

He rolled off me and I just stared at the ceiling. I knew I had lost my mind somewhere. It had been gone for a while, but it was slowly returning. I could feel it. That was probably the weird part about it.

I…was becoming sane.

Maybe I should teach my own Genin team. That would probably freak out the Genin I would be in charge of.

I glanced at Sasuke who was asleep and got up.

It was time to face reality.

I walked out of the room, silently closing the door behind me and went down the hall to the cursed room that had once been my own. There was a bloody palm print wrapped around the doorknob.

Sometimes, I wished I could burn the house and burn the memories with it.

As my hand covered the print, I twisted the knob and pushed the door open.

_You must know life to see decay_

_Remember what we live for_

_Death is just so full_

_Dismiss your fears_

_Burn with dark ambition_

_A heart of ice doesn't melt_

_Depend solely on strength_

_The endless memories __are really a scene of battle_

_Shelter the pain inside_

_Don't need salvation_

_Be alone_

_Troubles and doubts_

_In the dark_

_Never love_

I stepped into the room, following the foot prints that were missing in the blood and closed the door to find the mocking questions.

_Will you stand above me?_

_Can we even out the score?_

_Will you recognize me?_

But two condescending statements were below the questions.

_Don't Forget About Me._

But the biggest insult of all.

_MISSING YOU_

I wanted to rip the room apart.

He had been right. I did get above him. I evened the score. I recognized him.

I would never forget about him.

I slammed my fist on the door as hard as I could as tears fell. I rested my head against the door as I slid down until I was sitting on the floor.

"Why?" I asked all the words on the wall as if they could answer me.

A knock caught my attention. I stood up and opened the door. Sasuke, of course. He stepped in and sat with me.

"Nice try," he told me.

"It's been forever since I've been in here," I said. "Did you read everything?"

He looked around, "Yeah. I think so."

I stood up and offered him my hand. He took it and I turned him to face the door. He visibly tensed up as he stared at the door. He had missed the door.

"That explains a lot," Sasuke said quietly.

I sighed as I watched the door.

_MISSING YOU_

Words that ever haunted me.

"He won, you know," I told Sasuke. "In the end. He got what he wanted."

"But you get to do what you wanted as well," Sasuke said.

"No," I told him. "I'll never get to do what I wanted. I can be a lower ninja, yes, but I'll never stop being a ninja. That's not possible after you become ANBU. I know too much and have too much power. It's too late."

I did some hand signs as I concentrated on the floor. Nothing happened. I sighed as I opened the door.

I took the punch to the face without much of a fight. Sakura looked pissed as she stood there.

"Explain that!" She yelled at me. "Just what are you hiding in there?!"

Naruto yawned as he walked up, "What's going on? Is it time to get up already?"

"No, Naruto," I told him quietly. "Go back to bed."

"What's going on?" He asked as he watched Sasuke walk out of the room and close the door.

"She won't admit that she likes Sasuke!" Sakura yelled.

"What if Sasuke likes her?" Naruto said.

I think Sakura's mind imploded at the thought.

"That isn't possible!" Sakura yelled.

"You want the truth, fine."

Sasuke put his hand over mine, stopping me from opening the door. "No," he said firmly. "You aren't ready for that. Don't pretend you are. You don't know Sakura or Naruto well enough to share that."

I smirked, "Fine. Spare them the nightmares. I'm going back to bed."

Sasuke slowly let go of me while I stared at the door. I punched it again, as hard as I could. Whatever jutsu my father put on it wouldn't let me break the door, so I could punch it as hard as I wanted.

"I hate you," I told the door as tears fell. "I hate you so much."


	13. Petting Zoo

No one spoke to me in the morning. Sakura continued to glare at me through breakfast. I was really getting tired of it.

"If you don't get that stick out of your ass, my house will not be open to you anymore," I told her.

Sasuke scoffed, "Like that's saying much."

"If you don't stop, it'll be off limits to you too," I told him.

"I have a key, remember?" He mocked.

"I changed the locks after my dad went rogue," I told him. "Your key doesn't work."

He glared at me and stopped talking. Naruto sighed, clearly uncomfortable with being in the middle of it all.

"You're free to talk, Naruto," I said.

"I don't know what's going on," Naruto groaned.

I chuckled, "Sometimes it's best left that way. We'll start training tomorrow morning if we don't have a mission. Sakura, our training begins after his. Sasuke, ours begins after Sakura's."

Sakura stared at me, "Do you not have a life?"

"Apparently not since the Jounin dumped you on me," I told them. "Let's go."

When Sasuke and I got to the petting zoo, the man running it didn't seem too impressed with us. He was large, hairy, and disgusting. Like he hadn't bathed in weeks.

"Tch, I had better help yesterday," he grumbled. "Anything's better than some ninja wannabes."

"I am not in the mood to be criticized by some low life that doesn't understand the meaning of a hard day's work," I told him. "Now tell us what we're supposed to do and we'll do it."

He glared at me, "And what do you know about a hard day's work, kid?"

I pushed my headband down, showing my ANBU tattoo.

He just glared at it, "Is that supposed to mean something?"

I chuckled, "Man doesn't know the ANBU when they're standing in front of him. How sad."

His face visibly paled. "A-ANBU?"

"I am," I told him. "He's a student. I will not have you talk down to us simply because we're children. Now, tell us what to do and it will get done."

He kept his distance from us most of the day, but still gave us work to do.

"Is that what you've done every day?" Sasuke asked as we scattered hay around.

"Yesterday I had to move my headband because people weren't letting kids in the arcade because of Naruto. Then when they saw that the ANBU was in with him, they were fine. People, I swear. If they realized which member, I wonder if they would allow them in."

"That's why it's anonymous," he said. "Supposed to be."

"When we kill them," I said. "Though I did like face painting more than the others."

"With Sakura?" He asked, clearly surprised as we started giving food to the kids that wanted to touch the animals.

"I just liked painting faces," I told him. "It could have been with anyone and I would have enjoyed it. Even with you."

He rolled his eyes.

"You're the party pooper that wouldn't let me paint his face," I said.

"And what would you have painted?"

"I don't know. Whatever you wanted. A dragon? A panther."

He just sighed.

"But you need to keep Sakura away from me," I told him. "I might kill her for real. If she doesn't leave me the hell alone, game over."

"And how do you expect me to stop her?" Sasuke asked as we swept up the dirty area.

"You're _her_ Sasuke. She worships the ground you walk on. Tell her to stop."

"That probably won't work. What do you plan on teaching us?"

"Naruto wants chakra training," I said as I started listing stuff off. "I'm torturing Sakura. And you're relaxing."

"That crap again?" He growled.

I leaned on the broom, "Do you want to beat him or not?"

His grip tightened on his broom then he sighed, "Fine. But what are you doing to Sakura?"

"You told me she was on a diet," I said with a smile. "I'm going to teach her why ninja don't diet."

"You're going to kill her."

"That's a downright nasty way of putting it," I said with a pout. "But yes. She will want to die. At least she'll be useful."

"Can I join you?" He asked.

I sighed, "I guess. You'll be busy training anyway. Then you'll be so tired you'll have to relax."

He just stared at me as I started scattering hay again. "You're going to start us on ANBU training?"

I laughed, "ANBU training? That stuff was a joke compared to what I went through at home."

He gave me a very blank look, "Maybe I'll pass."

I laughed, "The Sasuke Uchiha is going to pass on training?"

"I value my life and I know my limits."

I just laughed. "Right. Then you know you can handle it."

He glared at me as we continued our jobs.

By the end of the day, we smelled awful. The smell kept Sakura away when she came with Naruto to find us. That was a miracle.

Everyone parted to go home, all tired of being at my house. Except Naruto. He came home with me because he had training in the morning.

After a nice long shower and ferociously washing my clothes then drying them, it was bed time.

I woke up early and made a large breakfast for Naruto and myself. We were going to work on him understanding chakra points. That would probably take weeks.

Naruto ate half of it and I ate the other half easily.

"I've never seen a girl eat as much as you," Naruto said. "They're always talking about diets."

"Diets don't exist as a ninja," I told him. "Sakura is going to find out why today."

He stared at me, "What do you mean?"

"You're more than welcome to join us. Sasuke was going to until he heard what sort of training it was going to be."

Naruto grinned, "Is it ANBU training?"

I smiled, "She's going to be wishing it was. This is training my father put me through when I was a child in order to join the ANBU at such a young age."

The grin fell from Naruto's face. "Oh man."

I grinned, "Well. To the training grounds. Let's go."

Naruto nodded and followed me. When we got to the training grounds, I took off the jacket I was wearing, showing him the body paint I had on.

Naruto just stared at the strange design all over my body, "What's that?"

"This is the main flow of your chakra," I told him. "You need to memorize where it is and find it. Once you do, it will be easier for you to control your chakra."

He stared at my body for a while. I turned so he could see that it was on my back as well.

"Oh man, I'm never going to remember this!" Naruto yelled.

I put the jacket on and sighed, "That's why we're going to work on it slowly. The easiest place for you to focus your chakra is always in your hands. So, try to find your chakra flow in your arms and just focus on it flowing in your arms."

"How will I know?" Naruto asked.

"You'll know," I promised.

He sighed and closed his eyes as he focused on his chakra. It would take a while before he even sensed it. Days, probably. Especially since his mind had already wandered from what he was doing.

"Focus, Naruto," I told him.

"I can't," he whined.

"If you want to beat Sasuke, you have to. Do you want me to get him and yell insults at you? Or do you want me to insult you?"

"I'm focusing," he grumbled.

He stayed focused for the few hours I planned for our training.

"Good," I said. "We'll try again tomorrow. "You're making progress."

"But nothing happened," Naruto said.

"I wasn't expecting anything to happen," I told him. "But you stayed focused for four hours. That's an improvement Naruto. Good work. We'll get results soon."

He beamed and walked off.

I went back home and got some lunch and gathered the training gear. After dropping it off at the training grounds, I went to Sakura's house and got her.

"Ready for training?" I asked when she opened the door.

"Not really," she sighed.

"Sasuke might join us," I told her.

"What are we waiting for!" She yelled.

I chuckled when I got to the training grounds and found Sasuke there along with Naruto. "Well, it seems we'll just have everyone today. Alright, I need to go home and get more equipment. I'll be right back."

After grabbing more gear, I went back and put the gear on the ground.

"Alright, it's pretty easy training. We'll start out running laps around the village, then we'll return here with pushups, pull-ups, sit ups, and do more laps. Then you'll be done."

I picked up a vest and handed it to Sakura. When she got it, she dropped to the ground from the weight.

I raised an eyebrow at her, "Something wrong?"

"You expect us to do all that with this on?!" Sakura asked.

"You'll be doing more than that when we're through," I told her. "Get it on and we'll begin."

I handed one to Sasuke and Naruto who also struggled with the vests. So, we walked through Konoha. They didn't have the ability to run. An extra fifty pounds seemed to slow them down.

About half way around Konoha, Sakura collapsed.

"Sakura!" Naruto yelled.

"Leave her or wait for her," I told him. "She's still got to finish."

"What?" Sakura gasped. "I can't move."

"Sasuke, Naruto, finish up and get back to the training grounds. You can take off your vests there. I'll wait for Sakura here. You're not taking the vest off until you finish," I told her."

She slowly pushed herself to her feet and struggled behind Naruto and Sasuke.

"I don't see you wearing this," Sakura grumbled.

I laughed, "I'll let you borrow my clothes one day. I'm wearing my weight in clothes."

When we got to the training area the three of them collapsed.

I sighed, "Alright. You're done for the day. Sasuke, your turn. But first, go get something to eat."

"Can't…vest…off," Naruto said.

I laughed and pulled the vests off all of them. They sighed in relief then stood up. I smiled as I watched the three walk off, Naruto and Sakura bitching about the training they just went through while Sasuke just listened or ignored it. Hell, he might have agreed.

"Stop trying to kill my students," Kakashi said as he walked up from behind me. "I don't appreciate it."

"Well, they want to become stronger," I told him. "And you're not being a good Jounin and teaching them anything."

"How can I when I have such a good Genin to do it for me?" He asked as he put his hand on my head. "Besides, forming relationships is part of your healing process, Koko. And you're healing quite nicely."

"I was," I said. "We had a slight problem when Sasuke found my old room."

"The forbidden room?"

"Yeah," I sighed. "The forbidden room. Well, there's more to it, but then Sasuke went to the forbidden room to see if there was an extra bed and…it sort of went downhill."

"Sasuke needed an extra bed because?"

"My couch isn't comfortable so he slept in my bed with me and Sakura caught us and flipped."


	14. Words of Wisdom

When I got back to the training grounds, Sasuke was laying there. I smiled as I stood over him while he stared at the sky.

"Take off your clothes," Sasuke told me.

I laughed, "That's very forward of you. Why?"

"I want to see how strong you are."

I laid down next to him, "Maybe another day, Sasuke. Not now. You can't even stand."

He groaned, "How long am I going to be like this?"

"We're going to keep doing it," I told him. "At least Sakura is. I might drop her to the 25 pounds though. She collapsed too quickly."

"You have 25 pounds?" He asked irritated with me.

I grinned, "Of course."

He sighed.

I looked at him, "You're supposed to be relaxing. Now, relax."

He just stared at the sky for a while. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah."

"Will you talk about it?"

I looked at him, "Why? So you can learn how to fuel your hatred?"

"I'm worried about you," he told me. "You disappeared for four years. We were best friends then…you were gone."

I sighed, "Killing…is never going to be easy, Sasuke. Don't become like me. Don't let it be a habit. And don't become comfortable with the idea of killing someone you love. That's…it's not ok. Even Itachi."

He growled slightly, "Don't say his name."

"Whether you like it or not, he's your brother," I reminded him. "He may have killed your entire family, but…he's your brother. Don't…I wish it wasn't your goal in life." I sighed, "But I can't change your stubborn ass."

He was quiet for a while. "When are we going to get a harder mission?"

"When you deserve one."

"We don't deserve one now?" Sasuke asked.

"You haven't been a Genin that long, Sasuke. Give it time."

He sighed, "And this…training. Is it really going to help?"

"Helped me," I told him.

"Did it?" He asked.

"The person that trained me made me this way," I responded. "And my job did the same. Like I said, don't make killing a habit. You'll lose yourself along the way. And it'll take a lot to bring yourself back." I sighed as I closed my eyes, "I had given up the chance of coming back after I killed my father." I looked at Sasuke, "Once you do that, there is no coming back. Remember that and consider it."

He looked at me, "What do you mean?"

I rolled over to where I was sitting on top of him and I pulled a kunai and placed it at his throat, "Do you really think I wouldn't have a problem killing you? There would be no ounce of guilt after. I haven't come back Sasuke. I'm working on it, but…I still wouldn't regret it."

He just stared up at me, sweat beading on his face as he stared at me. I put the kunai away and rolled off back to where I was laying by him. "Don't do it until you're ready, Sasuke. Pursuing him won't get you answers or happiness."

"I'm an avenger," Sasuke said. "I have to be."

"Do you?" I asked. "Or did you forget what you wanted to be when we were little? When we spent all those hours on your pond while you tried to master the Fire Ball Jutsu and I was making necklaces out of the Sakura tree flowers. You always made fun of me…"

A tear fell from the corner of my eye, "We didn't have problems then. We just…"

"Don't cry," Sasuke said quietly. "Seeing you cry…is like watching the world fall apart."

I looked at him, trying to understand what he was talking about.

"Crying…it's weakness. You don't have a weakness."

"Crying is a form of strength, Sasuke," I told him as I looked at the sky. "Like all the other emotions you feel. You can cry in front of your team. That's what makes a good team. You'll understand that when you end up with Sakura between you and Naruto while you're sleeping through a snow storm and you can't build a fire. You can't show any emotion to your enemies. That shows vulnerability. There was one mission I told the man that had a teammate captive. He told me he was going to kill my teammate. I told him to go ahead, he'd be doing me a favor."

Sasuke looked at me, "You always have something interesting to say."


	15. Cats

It was another D ranked mission. I was enjoying myself. Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura were actually learning something on this mission. Damn cat.

"Sasuke, I've arrived at point B," I heard Sasuke say over the piece in my ear.

"This is Sakura, arrived at point C," Sakura announced.

I waited for Naruto.

"This is Naruto, arrived at point A," Naruto said.

"Koko at D," I stated.

"You're slow, Naruto," Kakashi said. "Ok, 7th unit."

I watched as the cat jumped out of the tree, starting its escape.

"The target is on the move," Kakashi told us. "After it!"

The stupid cat disappeared into a bush. The three of us peeked out from the trees we were hiding behind.

"Ok, he's there," Naruto stated.

We maneuvered from tree to tree and I jumped to the other side of the bushes in case it tried to run out the other side.

"What's the distance to the target?" Kakashi asked.

"Five meters," Naruto said. "I'm ready to go."

"I am too," Sasuke said.

"Me too," Sakura said.

"Same," I said quietly.

We had been chasing the stupid thing all damn day. I was tired of it. Because this was training for the others, I had to cut back and go with it. It was KILLING me. I was ready to destroy the stupid cat and every cat in existence so I would never have to see one again.

"Ok," Kakashi said. "Go!"

Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke jumped at the creature. Naruto caught it causing the cat to freak out.

"I got you!" Naruto yelled.

I sighed as I stepped out from behind the tree. Naruto was getting scratched up from the stupid beast while Sakura just smiled saying how adorable it was.

"Does it have a ribbon on its right ear? Is it our target, Tara?" Kakashi asked.

"It's the target for sure," Sasuke said while I grabbed the cat by the back of its neck, taking it from Naruto.

The cat made that weird growl at me. I merely glared at it and it dropped it back to Naruto where it curled up for safety.

Naruto just stared at me, "Thanks."

"Damn cats," I grumbled. "Hate them all because of this."

I heard Kakashi sigh, "Koko, you can't harass the clients."

"The cat isn't a client," I said. "It's a target."

He sighed again, "Ok. 'Operation Capture Tara the Lost Pet' complete.'"

Naruto was fed up with it too as he yelled, "Isn't there a more exciting mission we can work on?!"

When we got back to the Academy where the owner was, I realized why the cat ran away. The large woman was literally suffocating the poor thing with her love.

"Ohh, my cute Tara! I was so worried about you!" She cried as she cuddled it too tightly.

Naruto laughed as he scratched the back of his head, "That cat's getting what he deserves."

"No wonder he ran away," Sakura muttered.

"Now then, Kakashi's 7th unit's next mission is babysitting Master Yojyu's boy, grocery shopping at the neighboring town, helping dig up potatoes at-" but the Hokage was cut off by Naruto.

"No!" Naruto yelled. "No thanks to all of those! I want to do a more exciting mission! Choose something else!"

"Idiot!" Iruka yelled. "You're still a novice ninja! Everyone needs to start with the easy missions to gain experience!"

The Hokage lowered his hat a bit as if to hide his embarrassment. That was interesting.

"But, but…!" Naruto protested. "We've only been doing dumb missions lately!"

Kakashi punched him in the back of the head causing him to fall to the ground. I sighed as I shoved my hands into my pockets and walked to the window.

"Cut it out," Kakashi said.

"Naruto," the Hokage said. "It looks like I need to explain to you what missions are. Listen, a lot of clients come to this village every day. They request things from babysitting to assassinations."

I glanced back to see all three members of my team, along with Iruka and the Hokage looking at me. Of course the fact that the Hokage was gesturing to me didn't help. I sighed and closed my eyes, ignoring the Hokage's explanation. I had already heard it.

"On the request list is a variety of requests are listed on it and they are separated into ranks A, B, C and D according to difficulty. In this village, we separate the people into Jounins, Chunins, and Genins according to their abilities. We higher officials assign the missions to ninja with the appropriate abilities. And if we complete the mission, we receive a fee from the client. You have all become Genins just recently, so D ranked missions are best for you."

"I had tankatsu ramen yesterday," I heard Naruto say, "so I'm going to eat a miso ramen today."

"Listen!" the Hokage yelled.

"I am sorry," Kakashi said.

"You always lecture me like that, pops," Naruto complained. "But I'm not the kid who used to pull pranks anymore!" He turned his back on the Hokage like a brat.

The Hokage sighed and looked at me, "From what Kakashi has said, they've taken a liking to you, is that correct?"

"Depends on how you define 'liking,'" I told him. "Kakashi isn't training them, if that's what you mean. Well, he might be training Sakura. She dropped out of my training."

Iruka glared at me, "No Genin is prepared for your training, Kokoro."

"I was doing it when I was younger than that," I told him. "And I'm carrying my body weight for clothing. Don't tell me they can't do it. With that being said, don't doubt them. I've trained Sasuke and Naruto personally. They've come a long way, though they don't realize it yet and they won't until they're put to the test."

The Hokage sighed, "Very well."


	16. The Bridge Builder

"I will allow you to take on a C ranked mission," the Hokage said. "It's to escort a certain person."

"Really?" Naruto asked excitedly. "Who? Who? A feudal lord? Or a princess?"

"Don't get so hasty," the Hokage said. "I'll introduce him now. Can you come in now?"

All of us looked at the door, wondering who we were escorting. I narrowed my eyes at the old man with a bottle of sake in his hand.

"What?" He asked in disbelief. "They're all kids!" He leaned against the doorway so he wouldn't fall over, "Hey, is the smallest one there with the idiotic face really a ninja?"

Naruto laughed, "Who's the smallest one with the idiotic face?"

"You," I told him.

Kakashi grabbed Naruto by the back of his jacket while Naruto tried to attack the old man, "I'm going to kill you!"

"Don't kill the man you're supposed to escort, idiot," Kakashi said.

The drunken man looked at me, "You don't have much room to talk, girly. You look more pathetic than he does."

I shrugged, "I don't take insults to heart from a drunken fool."

He glared at me while Kakashi sighed, "Koko, don't insult the clients."

"I am the bridge building expert, Tazuna," the old man introduced. "Once I have returned to my country, I will have all of you protect my life with yours while I complete the bridge."

While the others started to leave, the Hokage stopped me, "You will approach this mission as a Genin," he told me. "Should anything go amiss, do not hesitate to take drastic measures to save the team if they cannot handle it."

"Would I do anything else?" I asked him.

With that, I followed the others out and our C-ranked mission began.

"What did the Hokage want with you?" Kakashi asked.

"Told me to act like a Genin unless something goes wrong and they can't handle it. Take emergency action as needed."

As soon as we walked out the village gates, Naruto turned to all of us and threw his arms in the air, "Alright! Let's go!"

"What are you all excited for?" Sakura asked.

"Because I've never gone outside the village before," Naruto responded, looking around.

"Hey, will a kid like this really be capable of this mission?" Tazuna asked.

Kakashi laughed, "I, a Jounin, will be accompanying you. There is no need to worry."

Naruto turned and pointed at the old man, "Hey, geezer, don't underestimate ninjas! I'm a great ninja! I'm the elite ninja who will receive the title of Hokage one day. The name is Naruto Uzumaki. Remember it!"

The old man took a swig of his sake as he gave Naruto an uninterested look, "Hokage is the village's number one ninja, right? I don't think a guy like you can become one."

"Shut up!" Naruto yelled. "I'm willing to go through any hardship to become a Hokage! If I become a Hokage, you'll have to take notice of me!"

"I won't, kid. That is, even if any of you become a Hokage," Tazuna said, looking at all of us.

Kakashi grabbed Naruto's bag to keep him from attacking the man again.

"I'm going to kill you!" Naruto seethed.

"Stop it, stupid," Kakashi said.

"No! No! Let me at least hit him once!" Naruto yelled.

The hairs on my arms stood up, but I didn't say anything as I stretched and folded my arms behind my head allowing a small hole for me to peek through to see the trees by us. I could barely see someone in the shadows.

This was no longer a C-ranked mission, but I wasn't going to tell anyone until the time came. As long as I kept my cool, no one needed to know.


	17. Stalkers

Not much was said as we walked. I kept my guard up for the people following us, staying at the back of the group, behind Kakashi.

"Hey, Tazuna," Sakura said.

"What is it?" The old man asked grumpily.

"You're from the Country of the Wave, right?" She asked.

"What about it?" He asked.

"Kakashi-sensei, are there also ninja in that country?" She asked.

"No, there are no ninja in the Country of the Wave," he replied. "But while the culture and customs of other countries may be different, hidden villages and ninja do exist. To the many countries that exist on this land, the existence of ninja villages is the equivalent of the country's military powers. In other words, that is how they are able to maintain the relationship with neighboring countries. But the villages aren't under control of that country. They are supposedly equal in position. On a small island like the Country of the Wave, where it is difficult to be influenced by other countries, there is no need for a ninja village. Among the countries that have a ninja village since the five countries of fire, water, lightning, wind, and earth occupy a large mass of land and their powers are immense, they are known as the Five Great Ninja Powers. Country of Fire's Hidden Village of Konoha. Country of Water's Hidden Village of Mist. Country of Lightning's Hidden Village of Cloud. Country of Wind's Hidden Village of Sand. Country of Earth's Hidden Village of Rock. Only the leader of each hidden village is allowed to carry the name of 'Kage'. Hokage, Mizukage Raikage Kazekage and Tsuchikage, otherwise known as the 'Five Kages', are the ninjas that reign over the tens of thousands of ninjas that exist in the countries throughout the world."

"Wow," she said excitedly. "So the Hokage must be a great man!"

I could tell she didn't mean it.

"Oi," Kakashi called. "You all just doubted the Hokage, didn't you?"

Naruto and Sakura shook their heads nervously. I just rolled my eyes. Idiots.

Kakashi put his hand on Sakura's head, "Don't worry. We won't have any ninja battles in a C-ranked mission."

"Then there's no need to worry about meeting a foreign ninja," Sakura said with a sigh of relief.

"Of course," Kakashi said with a laugh.

We continued on. I stayed at the back of the group behind Tazuna.

The old man glanced at me from over his shoulder, "Why aren't you up front with the others? Too afraid to be a sacrificial lamb?"

Kakashi stopped walking completely and moved between me and Tazuna, a kunai in his hands, ready to block whatever attack I had coming. I simply looked at Kakashi.

"It's a C-ranked mission," I told him. "I can handle it. He can throw whatever insults he wants. I told you, I'm not listening to an old drunk. He's lucky I'm willing to protect him."

As we continued, I noticed a water puddle. I silently slipped out a kunai and waited. I noticed Kakashi had seen it too and gave me a glance then nodded. I walked up and mingled in the group when the attack on Kakashi happened.

The weird chains wrapped around him and appeared to shred him. Sakura screamed.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto yelled.

The two ninja appeared behind Naruto. I watched as Naruto froze up, but Sasuke jumped in to help him. Sasuke managed to break the chain, but with the two ninjas apart, they could go independently after everyone.

"Koko! Attack!"

The world went dark. Chakra came alive. Two were moving faster than the others. So I attacked. Almost instantly, the moving chakras were gone. There were distant voices. Distant screams. I couldn't make out what they were saying.

"Monster."

I blinked a few times and found two corpses at my feet. The men that were following us. Sakura and Naruto didn't look so great and neither did the bridge builder. Blood covered me from head to toe. Sasuke wasn't even looking at me.

I nudged a corpse over to see what had happened to him. I had pulled his heart out.

Oh…That's what I had done.

The Human Sacrifice Jutsu required a human heart. Those it was cast on would explode. And that was why I was covered in blood.

Kakashi sighed, "Well…that was educational."

I looked at the bridge builder, "Now you know you're well protected."

"Not so sure I want to be protected by a psychopath," he said.

I smirked as I continued walking.


	18. Caught in a Lie

I watched Naruto for a moment. He seemed…off. While Kakashi congratulated the other members for being able to participate, Naruto had froze up. It was a natural response.

"Hey," I looked at Sasuke to see him smirking at Naruto. "Are you hurt, Mr. Scaredy Cat?"

I was pretty sure I had caught Sasuke off guard by disappearing and punching his face into the ground. "I will not have insults on my team," I said coldly. "Especially not after a fight. Is that understood, Sasuke?"

He glared as he looked up at me, "Why are you protecting him?"

"Because even the bravest and cruelest of us can freeze up," I told him. "And now you have to carry out the rest of this mission with the image of a man getting his heart ripped out and the other exploding. If you're going to carry an attitude of insulting the weak, understand that we are all weak at some point, Uchiha. Even me."

I walked to Naruto, "C'mon Naruto. We'll talk about it."

The angry scow on his face disappeared momentarily, but returned when he glared at Sasuke. I could feel Sasuke's glare at me.

"There's poison on these guy's nails," Kakashi said. "Koko, you need to take care of Naruto before he dies."

I sighed as I took Naruto's hand in mine and looked at him, "Ready?"

Naruto was shaking, "Is it going to hurt?"

"I told you it was the least painful, remember? It won't hurt that bad. But you should sit down."

Naruto sat down and I held my hand in front of my face, concentrating my chakra then opened my hand up next to Naruto's hand. Naruto winced as black blood began to come out of his wound. When I was finished, I put the poisoned blood into the pouch attached to my hip with a smile and bandaged his hand.

"You'll be fine," I assured him.

"By the way, Tazuna-san," Kakashi said.

"W-What is it?" The old drunk stuttered.

I stood up, helping Naruto up as well. I put his arm over my shoulder until he could stand all by himself. He gave me a grateful smile but my eyes were on the corpse a few feet away from us.

"I need to talk to you. Koko, you're no longer a Genin, but keep your tattoo covered. We may need the advantage."

I didn't respond as I stood there crossing my arms over my chest. Sasuke and Sakura approached me.

"What's going on?" Naruto asked.

"We're no longer on a C-rank mission," I said seriously. "Those ninja have followed us since we left Konoha. I didn't say anything because it wasn't worth mentioning. If anything, I could take them out myself and none of you would notice."

"But how did you know they would attack?"

"When was the last time it rained?" I asked them. "And we just passed two puddles. That doesn't happen. Tch," I said as I looked at the corpse. "It's a shame they weren't more of a challenge. Maybe I wouldn't have needed to rip out his heart. They're just Chunin of the Mist. They'll fight until they can't anymore." I smirked, "Fixed that problem."

"How are you so strong compared to these pathetic kids?" Tazuna asked.

"That doesn't concern you," I told him.

"Then why let them fight?"

"With Kakashi out of the picture, it would be logical to take out three Genin who would pose no threat to some Chunin," I explained. "Except they didn't know that one of the Genin isn't what they appear to be."

"Hmph," the old man grunted.

"And we needed to know who the target was," Kakashi said.

"What do you mean?" Tazuna asked.

"In other words, were you being targeted, or somebody from our ninja group?" Kakashi explained. "It would only be logical for someone to target you or Koko. We have not heard anything about you being targeted by ninja. Your request was to protect you from armed groups like gangs and robbers. This is a mission that's above a B rank. Our job was to support and guard you until you completed the bridge. If ninja are our enemy, this mission would have been an expensive B rank."

I was only getting angrier as Kakashi continued speaking with Tazuna. He did appear like he felt bad for putting our lives at risk, but he would have hell to pay.

"It looks like you have your reasons, but it only troubles us if you lie in your request details. This wasn't part of the mission."

"This mission is out of our league," Sakura said sympathetically. "Let's quit."

I shot her a look and she backed away.

"We do not quit and we do not back down no matter the challenge," I said.

"It's an A-rank mission, Koko," Kakashi said. "It could kill them."

"I'm an ANBU officer, Kakashi," I told him. "And I will be damned to my death before I let any of them die."

I pulled out a kunai and carved the kanji for death in my arm.

"We're going to the Country of the Waves with this old man. And we're coming back. They'll be stronger, they'll be better, and dammit, they'll be ready another A-rank mission. We are Team Seven. We will not fail."

Kakashi sighed, "Fine. We'll continue."

I looked at the old man, "I'm not done with you old man. You're getting it later."

He gulped and walked ahead. I stayed back with Naruto as he stood by the corpse.

"Why am I so different?" Naruto asked. "I should be stronger. I've accomplished lots of missions and I've practiced techniques every day." A new light of determination shined in his blue eyes, "I'm never going to do something that will require someone to help me. I'm never going to be frightened and try to back out of things. I'm not going to lose to Sasuke."

"We all have our weaknesses, Naruto," I told him. "Thriving to be better than someone is a good goal to have."

He looked at me, "Even you?"

I chuckled slightly, "I'm probably the weakest out of all of you."

He stared at me, amazed, "No way."

"I may be an ANBU officer, but I am a Genin, too, Naruto. And that is because I could kill anyone without second guessing it. It's because of my lack of care that puts us all at risk. Though I will protect you, that does not mean I care about you. Just because Sasuke and I have a past does not mean I care any more about him than I do about you. I was trained to kill. I grew up with that state of mind. And with that state of mind, you become so empty you cannot feel love. The reason I am on this team is to find purpose again. There is a chance of it coming back, but this mission may cause me to lose it." I smirked wickedly as I looked at the dried blood under my nails, "Because none that attack us will be spared."

"Will you help me not freeze up?" Naruto asked.

I looked at him, "I froze when I started. Freezing is nothing to be ashamed of."

Sasuke stopped and looked at me, disbelief on his face, "You froze?"

"I didn't see you trying to kill someone," I told him. "You were just protecting your teammate. You couldn't kill someone if you had to. Once you cross that line, you can't go back."

"Is that why you haven't changed?" Sakura asked.

"No," I told her. "This is a warning. Only ninja of the Mist Village will know that it is their member's blood and they will know that they experienced a painful death. It should keep them away for the most part, unless they just refuse to heed the warning."

"If that's the case, I want you to protect the bridge builder and them," Kakashi said. "I'll take care of anyone else. That way you can obtain whatever information you can get from their attacks while watching me fight."

"What do you do with the blood in the pouch?" Naruto asked.

I glanced at him, "Nothing."

"I don't want to travel with a psychopath," the old man said.

I growled, "And I don't want to travel with someone that tried to kill my teammates. If you had moved back there, I would have killed you too. You had better be glad Sakura was in front of you. If I didn't know her chakra already, I would have murdered you just like I murdered them. We're blood manipulators. You get any sort of cut on you, your ass is mine, old man. And I will show no sympathy."

Kakashi sighed, "Sasuke, please calm her down. Naruto, come with me. Sakura, walk with Tazuna."

Sasuke walked up to me and I glared at him, "You sure as hell won't help calm me down."

"I didn't know," he said. "You don't seem like someone that would freeze."

"You know everything about me and you don't think I would freeze up?" I hissed. "I told you I wanted to make jewelry like my mother. Then they send me out to kill someone. You don't think I would freeze on my first mission?"

"I didn't think you'd kill on your first mission," he said.

I scoffed, "You didn't think at all. You just wanted to make him feel worse."

"And that's what you want to do to me," Sasuke pointed out.

I smiled slightly, "Because you can handle it. When you do it, it pushes Naruto to do better. But he doesn't realize what he's doing wrong. You need to stop being an ass and start helping him by showing him how to do it the right way. I can be as mean as I want to you and you don't care. That's just how our relationship is. But Naruto needs some help. Stop being an arrogant ass and be his friend and his rival. Help him out and challenge him. Maybe this team will get somewhere."


	19. Death Oath

When we got to a place for camp, Kakashi looked at me. "How do you want to handle this?"

I scanned the area. No one was around.

"I'll take watch tonight," I said.

"If more ninja attack, doesn't the strongest person here need to sleep and be ready to attack?" Tazuna asked.

I just looked at him, "Let us worry about your potential danger. We'll deal with them accordingly."

He sighed.

The night passed with no movement. But Sasuke was awake.

"It's bad enough I'm awake," I said quietly. "You need sleep."

Sasuke sighed as he got up and sat next to me, "Why do you think he was attacked?"

"The reason he said," I replied. "Robbers and gangs. Only this guy has money and can pay ninja to kill him."

Sasuke looked at me, his eyes widening slightly, "Isn't that like starting a war?"

"No," I said. "Unless he's a big shot. If we can take out the guy that's hiring the ninja that are trying to kill Tazuna, we can stop it all. Since he's hiring ninja, it's safe to say he isn't a ninja."

"So, ANBU might be coming after us," Sasuke said quietly.

I smiled at him, "Does that frighten you?"

He gave a slight nod.

I frowned and rubbed his back, "I'm not letting anything happen to you, Sasuke. You know that."

"You took the death oath," he said, glancing at my arm. "You shouldn't have gone that far. Not for this."

I looked at my arm and shrugged, "It'll fade after the mission. Makes things more interesting, don't you think?"

He gave me a blank look, "Have you ever taken one before?"

"When I killed my father," I said. "I was assigned the mission and I carved it into my leg. I wasn't returning to Konoha until he was dead." I pulled up my pants to show him the scar. "Exciting. But it's not like I'm going to let any of you die. I can't promise you won't come close. I don't know what we're going into. But you will not die."

Sasuke held my hand. He was definitely scared or he wouldn't have held my hand. His face didn't show it as he stared into the night covered forest.

"Is dying painful?" Sasuke asked.

"Depends on who does it," I said. "But you're not going to die."

"Is killing painful?" He asked. "Will we have to kill?"

"The first time…it's going to haunt you," I told him. "Depending on when the second happens…you may feel worse, you may feel better. But as the deaths build up, they just become part of the job. They were threats to the client, the village, and you. If you had to take them out because there was no other option, then take them out. That's the only advice I can give. Don't kill unless there is no other option. As ANBU…I don't know another option. Sparing lives is…foreign."

Sasuke nodded and stayed quiet for a while. I felt a weight on my shoulder and chuckled quietly when I noticed he had fallen asleep on my shoulder. After gently laying him down where his head was in my lap, I resumed my watch.

I hate night watch.


	20. Boat Ride

In the morning, we began our journey again. Before long, we reached the shore. There was a boat waiting for us. It was going to be a long sail ahead of us. Naruto climbed into the boat first, sitting at the head while Sakura sat across from Sasuke and I sat by him. Kakashi sat by Tazuna in front of the boat driver.

As we sailed, I had my hand in the water. Sasuke was watching me. I hated boats.

"Are you going to make it?" Sasuke asked.

"I don't know," I grumbled.

Tazuna laughed, "Someone gonna get seasick?"

My eyes moved to him, "Are you really going to sit there and insult me after what you've seen me do?"

Sasuke turned my head back to the water, "Focus."

I sighed as I stared at the water. Soon, we were covered in a thick fog.

"This is quite some fog," Sakura said. "I can't see ahead."

"The bridge should be visible soon," the boat driver told us.

I didn't care. The fog made me sicker.

"When we reach the side of the bridge, we'll be in the Land of the Waves," the boat driver said.

"Wooow!" Naruto yelled. "It's huge!"

"H-Hey!" The boat driver said. "Please keep it down! I took this boat out under cover of fog. And I cut the engine and am rowing by hand. If they find us, we'll be in deep trouble."

I looked at Tazuna, "You have so much to explain. And I better have something to kill or else it's going to be you."

Sasuke gently patted my back, "You'll be alright when you get on land."

"I'll kill you too," I told him.

"Mr. Tazuna," Kakashi said. "I want to ask you something before we arrive at the pier. The identity of your assailants, and the reason they are after you. If you don't tell us, our mission may end when you make landfall. Koko will stay, but I will have no control over what she does."

He was silent for a moment before answering, "It appears I have no choice but to tell you. Frankly, I'd like you to listen. Just as you said, this may be beyond the scope of your mission. Actually, I am being targeted by a terrifying man."

"A terrifying man?" Kakashi asked. "Who?"

"You guys have probably heard at least his name before," Tazuna said. "A shipping magnate by the name of Gato."

Where my hand was broke the wood on the boat, but I said nothing.

"What?" Kakashi asked, surprised to hear the lowlife would be after him. "Gato…of the Gato Company? One of the world's richest men?"

"Who?" Naruto asked excitedly. "What?"

"Yes," Tazuna replied. "On the surface, he's the chief executive of a shipping company. But underneath, he is into drug-trafficking and deals in contraband using gangs and Ninjas. Moreover, he runs a despicable business, ruthlessly taking over nations and enterprises. It was about one year ago, when that man first set his eyes on the Land of the Waves. He used his wealth and violence to enter this country, and before anyone knew it, he had taken complete control of the island's maritime transportation and shipping. Having a tight grip on the ocean, in an island nation like the Land of the Waves, means having control of finance, the government, the people…everything. The one thing Gato fears is the completion of the bridge that has been under construction for some time now."

"I see," Sakura said. "Since you're the one building the bridge, you've become a hindrance."

"Then, those Ninjas from before were Gato's men…?" Sasuke asked, giving me a nudge.

I looked up at him, "How should I know?"

"Because you broke the boat," he said.

"They probably were," I said as I looked back at the water.

I could feel his smirk, "He's wasting his money if we can take him."

"Don't make me throw you over," I grumbled.

"But I don't understand," Kakashi said. "Your opponent is a dangerous one, who will even use Ninja. Why did you hide that fact from us when you made your request?"

"The Land of the Waves is a very poor nation, and even feudal lords have no money. Of course, we ordinary citizens have no money either. We cannot afford to make requests of Rank B or higher. Well, if you pull out of the mission when I land ashore, I will, no doubt, be killed. Killed sometime before I make it home. But there's no need for concern! Should I die, my cute grandchild who will turn eight will only cry his heart out! And… my daughter will only blame the Hidden Leaves Ninja for the rest of her life and grieve in solitude. Oh, it's not your fault at all!"

"Good, because I sure as hell don't care," I said dryly.

"Well, I guess we have no choice," Kakashi said, agreeing to help the old man.

I sighed, "You're mentality is pathetic, Kakashi. You'd never-"

Sasuke put his hand over my mouth.

"Let's continue as his body guards," Kakashi said.

"Oh! I am most grateful!" Tazuna said.

Kakashi laughed slightly, "I hope you understand that we're not protecting you from the people that are after you. We're protecting you from Koko."

"We'll be arriving soon," the boat driver said.

"Koko, there's a tunnel," Kakashi said.

"I don't care," I told him.

"Tazuna," the boat driver said. "It appears we haven't been noticed up until this point."

"Thanks," Tazuna replied.

When we got into the tunnel, I bit my thumb, drawing blood and sucked on it then spat what I got onto the tunnel wall. Holding my fingers in front of my face, I watched the spot glow then send a light wave over the tunnel. No one was in the tunnel.

"No one's in here," I told Kakashi.

"Koko, I want you to be a Genin until Tazuna is attacked," Kakashi said.

"I know," I grumbled. "I'm still killing something. I have been in this damn boat for too long."

"Then get out," Kakashi said.

"Genin can't do that," I mocked.

"We're still in the tunnel," he said.

I stood up and stretched then sat back down, "Naruto would freak out."

When we got out of the tunnel, there was no fog in the area. It was a nice place with all the houses built on the water. Though the poverty was clear, it was still a relaxing place.

Finally the boat stopped and I jumped onto the pier. "Thank you God for things that don't sway!"

Everyone else was quiet as they got off.

"This is as far as I go," the boat driver said. "See you around."

"Yeah. You've been a big help," Tazuna told him.

"Be careful," the boat driver said. He started the engine and headed off.

"Ok!" Tazuna said. "Get me home safely!"

I scoffed, "Get yourself home." Kakashi hit me. I winced and glared at him, "Dammit old man! Stop hitting me!"

"Stop being disrespectful to the client, Roo."

The three Genin looked at me and I rolled my eyes. Gato would know my name. I needed a new one. And Kakashi just named me 'Roo'. Wonderful.


	21. Zabuza

So our adventure began. I whined about everything I could. Walking too much, not eating, being too hot, the humidity, the poverty. Everything.

"Oh my god, shut up!" Sakura yelled.

I glared at her, "I'm just stating obvious facts."

Sasuke had left my side so he wouldn't have to listen to me whine in his ear.

"Can't we take a break, Kakashi?" I whined. "I'm tired of walking!"

"Stop whining, Roo," Kakashi said.

The nickname was getting on my nerves.

I groaned loudly, "But Kakashi!"

"It's Kakashi-sensei!" Kakashi told me.

"Maybe if you acted like a sensei, I'd call you sensei," I grumbled.

Naruto suddenly ran ahead and started looking around. I heard something move in the bush and Naruto looked at it, "There!"

He threw a kunai. I raised an eyebrow as I walked next to Sasuke. "He would have felt terrible if that was an innocent person. Or if he actually hit it."

"Oh, it was just a mouse," Naruto said carelessly.

I walked up behind him and slammed my fist into the back of his head.

Naruto glared up at me as he rubbed the back of his head, "What was that for?!"

"For scaring the client," I said. "And for not thinking. What the hell were you thinking, Naruto?! What if that had been a curious child that just wanted to see the ninja up close. Think before you attack!"

"Yeah, stop showing off!" Sakura yelled. "There was nothing there!"

"Please, Naruto, don't use your throwing knives so abusively," Kakashi said. "It's dangerous in the first place."

"Hey, you dwarf!" Tazuna yelled. "Don't scare us!"

Naruto started looking around again, "I see someone hiding over there. No, is he over there?"

He was here. The true force of Gato.

"There!" Naruto yelled as he threw his kunai.

"I told you to stop!" Sakura said as she attacked him.

Sasuke looked at me, "What's wrong with you?"

I pulled my blood pouch from my side, "Just thirsty. I told Kakashi we needed a break. Naruto went and stressed me out."

"But I really did sense someone," Naruto defended.

"Liar! Cut it out!" Sakura yelled.

Kakashi moved through the bushes while I backed to Tazuna.

"Naruto! Look what you've done!" Sakura yelled.

"Rabbit!" Naruto yelled, panicking over the animal. "Sorry, I didn't mean it. Sorry, rabbit."

"Roo," Kakashi said.

I looked at him, "What old man?"

"Check to make sure the rabbit's alright," he said. "You're good with animals."

I walked to see the animal. Snow rabbit.

"It's fine," I told him. "If that idiot would quit smothering it."

"Are you ready?" Kakashi asked.

I looked at my blood pouch. With a look at Sasuke, I took a sip of it. His eyes widened when he saw the red tint on my lips.

I heard something moving through the wind.

"Everyone, duck!" Kakashi yelled.

I kicked Tazuna down and ducked away from the massive sword. I stared at the blade stuck in the tree. A man landed on top of it and looked down at us. Part of his face was covered in bandages.

"Oh my, my, you are Momochi Zabuza, the exiled ninja of the Hidden Village of the Mist," Kakashi said.

Naruto started running toward the man, but Kakashi blocked him. Idiot.

"You're in the way. Stay back," Kakashi glanced at me. "Everyone."

I growled at him. That fool.

"Why?!" Naruto asked.

"He's way different from the guys we met before," Kakashi explained. "If he's our enemy, I can't win like this."

Kakashi pushed up his headband, revealing his Sharingan.

"I'm guessing you are Kakashi the Sharingan user," Zabuza said. "I'm sorry, but I'll need you to hand over the geezer."

I stood in front of the old man, pulling out a kunai as I put my blood pouch away.

"Everyone, swastika formation," Kakashi said. "Protect Tazuna. Don't join the battle."

"What?" They asked, confused at the orders.

"To not interfere with the battle is teamwork," Kakashi said. "I have faith you'll be able to complete the mission without me."

I noticed Zabuza look at all of us, trying to figure out how four Genin could protect Tazuna from someone as strong as him.

"Fight me," Kakashi said.

"I'm honored that I can see the Sharingan that I've heard about," Zabuza said.

"You guys have been saying Sharingan, but what is it?" Naruto asked.

I glanced at Sasuke, who seemed unnerved at the fact Kakashi had it.

"Sharingan…The eye creates it, and it is the power that the pupil generates," Sasuke explained. "Ones who use doujutsu are said to have eye powers that can see through all genjutsu, taijutsu, and ninjutsu, and cancel their effects. Sharingan is one of the various types of eyes that those doujutsu users possess. But that's not the only ability the Sharingan possesses."

"Correct. That isn't it," Zabuza said. "The scary part is that Sharingan can understand how an opponents' technique works, and copy it." A mist began to form. "When I was in the Hidden Village of the Mist's assassination squad, your information was listed in the bingo book I carried asking for your capture."

It took all the control I had not to smile. Another assassin. This was going to be more than fun for me.

"It also noted this," Zabuza said. "The man who copied more than 1000 techniques, Kakashi the copy ninja."

"Wow!" Naruto praised.

Zabuza crouched on his sword, "Let's cut the chit-chat here. I have to kill that geezer right away."

Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura got into position.

"But, Kakashi, it seems I have to defeat you first," Zabuza noted.

"Is there a reason you're shaking?" Sasuke whispered.

"Do you realize how long it's been since I've had a good fight?" I asked him. "If Kakashi doesn't kill him, I get to."

Zabuza pulled his sword from the tree and disappeared into the mist. I could feel my blood rushing. This…was going to be so much fun if I got my turn. But, Tazuna came first. The team came first.

"He's there!" Sakura yelled. "And he's standing on the water!"

I watched as he disappeared.

"He's disappeared!" Naruto said in surprise.

"If you don't shut up, I'm going to rip your voice box out," I threatened.

"Sensei!" Sakura yelled fearfully as Kakashi walked toward the water.

"He'll try to eliminate me first, but…" Kakashi stopped for a moment as he watched the mist.

"What is he?" Sakura asked.

"Momochi Zabuza. He was in the hidden Village of Mist's ANBU, and was known for his 'silent killing' techniques."

"Silent?" Naruto asked.

"Just as the name implies, it's a killing technique that's executed in a flash and carried out in absolute silence," Kakashi explained. "It's possible that you'll be dead before you realize it. And I cannot use my Sharingan to its fullest potential. So don't let your guard down."

I could feel Sakura and Naruto panicking while Sasuke kept a calmer outlook. Inside he was panicking.

"But if you fail, you'll only die," Kakashi said.

"You're so carefree," Sakura said unhappy about his outlook about the situation.

"The mist is getting thicker!" Naruto yelled.

"The Country of the Wave is surrounded by the ocean, so a mist often emerges," Tazuna said.

Kakashi walked further into the mist, but my shaking didn't stop.

"Sensei!" Sakura called.

"Eight points," Zabuza's voice echoed around us.

I fought my smile as I looked around. I already knew where his voice was coming from, but I had to play the part of Roo. I could not be Koko.

"What is it?" Sakura asked panicking.

"The larynx, spine, lungs, liver, jugular, vein, collarbone, kidney, and heart," Zabuza said. "Now, which vital organ do you want to get struck at?"

I chuckled, "And I thought we were trying to keep points. You can't take over a city without taking down the walls, Zabuza."

"Idiot," Sasuke muttered. "You're going to get us all killed."

"It's like Kakashi said, worse that can happen is we die," I said. The fog was too thick for Zabuza to see me. I was having a hard time just standing still now. The grin on my face hadn't faded since the thick fog rolled in.

"Roo, if you don't calm down, I will calm you down," Sasuke threatened.

I took a deep breath and let it go, "Right. Sorry."

There was a sudden burst of chakra and everyone went still. I only got more excited. I shakily pulled my blood pouch from my side and took a quick swallow. With a sigh, a wave of calm fell over me.

I noticed Sasuke moved in a way that told me he was about to kill himself.

I grabbed his hands, stopping him, "Kakashi will not hurt you," I whispered. "You're safe."

"What's on your face?" He asked.

I wiped my mouth and looked away, "I'll tell you later."

I felt Zabuza coming. With a deep breath, I allowed him to come. He was in the middle of all of us.

"This is the end," Zabuza said.

"Yours," Kakashi said. "Roo, attack."

The world turned black. I felt my kunai go up Zabuza's chest, but he had barely dodged a serious blow.

"Monster!" I heard someone yell.

When my feet touched the ground, I was next to Sasuke and Kakashi was fighting Zabuza.

"Damn, why does he get to have all the fun?" I asked while we stood in front of Tazuna.

"I want to know how he got there," Sasuke said.

"I let him," I told him. "I didn't know what Kakashi wanted to do. I could have pulled out his heart if I wanted to, but apparently Kakashi has other plans. I guess he doesn't want to mentally traumatize you more than I already have."

Kakashi stabbed the water clone Zabuza.

"Sensei! Behind you!" Naruto yelled.

Zabuza used his giant sword to slice through the water clone of Kakashi. That seemed to play some sort of mental game with Zabuza.

Kakashi appeared with a kunai at Zabuza's neck, "Don't move."

I felt someone else nearby.

"This is the end," Kakashi told him.

No one said anything as they stared at Kakashi in awe. I closed my eyes with a sigh.

"Wow!" Naruto yelled.

Zabuza started chuckling, "Is this the end?"

I didn't think it was either. Endings are for books. And death.

"You don't understand," Zabuza said. "You can't defeat me with just your indiscriminate imitations. I can assure you that. But you're pretty good. I see that you've copied my water clone technique when your Genin attacked me. By making your clone speak as if it was the real one, you diverted my attention to the clone while the real one used the Mist Concealment technique to hide and observe my movements. However," Zabuza was suddenly behind Kakashi. "I'm not that easy to defeat."

The water clone in front of Kakashi disappeared.

"That one's a fake, too!" Naruto yelled.

Zabuza used his sword to attack Kakashi. His first attack missed, getting stuck in the ground, but it didn't seem to slow Zabuza down. He used the sword as leverage to give Kakashi a hard kick which sent him flying into the mist.

I just stayed sitting on the ground carelessly picking at the grass. Zabuza suddenly pulled his sword from the ground then ran to the water, "How idiotic." He jumped in.


	22. Running Isn't an Option

"His hand-to-hand combat skill is superb, too," Sasuke said as he observed the fight through the mist.

I watched from my own distance as Kakashi stared at the water. Zabuza had come out of the water and was standing behind Kakashi, "Idiot," Zabuza said as he started doing hand signs. "The Hydro-Prison technique."

"Shoot!" Kakashi yelled when he looked back.

He was stuck in a bubble of water.

Sasuke looked at me as I stood there, my arms crossed over my chest. "Do something!"

"It's not my fight," I told him. "I can't do anything. Not yet."

That much was true. If what Zabuza said was true and he did have a bingo book, my name was definitely in it. My father being an ANBU captain was higher ranked than I was. But after I had killed him, I had replaced him.

The bingo book was given to ANBU to know the skills of their targets. It was a book of all ninja everywhere, from weakest to strongest and it was updated every year, the Genin being added and so forth and the dead being noted. The farther in the book you were, the more dangerous you had become. I had reached the end of the ANBU pages. All the ANBU pages.

Zabuza's arm was in the water bubble that held Kakashi still. If the Genin wanted experience, now was the time to get it.

"You fell for it," Zabuza said. "This is a special prison that you can't escape from. You give me a hard time when you're moving. Now then, Kakashi, I'm going to finish you off later." His attention turned to us, "First, I'm going to get rid of them." He put his fingers in front of his face, "The water clone technique."

I jumped in front of them, "Protect Tazuna. Stay behind me."

The scratch I had made along his chest was dripping into the water. His water clones were mine. Hell, his water prison was mine, but he didn't even know it.

The Zabuza clone laughed, "The four of you have forehead protectors on as if you think you're ninja. But ninja refers to someone who has gone through numerous life and death situations. In other words, you can call yourself a ninja when you appear in my bingo book."

So his book was different than mine. So be it.

The clone put his fingers in front of his face making the fog thicker. I merely smiled.

"You four aren't ninja," he said.

I heard the Zabuza clone move towards Naruto. He was about to land a kick, but his eyes widened when I appeared in front of him and took the kick instead of Naruto. I didn't go far since I managed to block most of it.

"You're just kids," he said, still trying to intimidate us.

"Everyone!" Kakashi yelled. "Get Tazuna and run! You can't win against him! He can't move as long as he has me trapped in this hydro-prison. He also won't be able to use his water clone once you get away from him! Run for now!"

I looked at the Genin. Naruto and Sakura were terrified. Tazuna as well. Sasuke wouldn't swallow his pride for the world.

"He must be joking," Sasuke muttered.

I sighed, "I had to get stuck with you."

Sasuke looked at me, "What do you plan on doing?"

I smirked, "I'm already three steps ahead. Why don't you look closer at Zabuza and try to remember what he's done."

Sasuke stared at Zabuza's chest then his eyes widened. "The water…"

"Is mine," I smirked wickedly. "Kakashi's right though. I've only weakened what he can do, I can't take it out completely until more blood gets in there. The three of you stand no chance against him and we need to get Tazuna out of here. We still need to keep my cards close. As long as I'm out of the game, there's nothing more I can do than make some scratches to weaken his attacks."

"What about that hydro-prison?" Sasuke asked.

"Kakashi's stupid and doesn't know he can break out of it," I replied dully.

He looked at me and I nodded, "It's the truth."

A look of determination crossed Sasuke's face, "We have to do it!"

"You idiot!" I yelled as he ran forward.

The Zabuza clone reached for his sword while Sasuke started throwing shuriken. I chased after him. While Zabuza's clone swung the sword to block the shuriken, Sasuke jumped into the air and I went to the side. For now, this is all I could do.

Pray for weakness.

Pray for blood.

"This is the spot!" Sasuke yelled.

"Too easy," the Zabuza clone said.

"It's never too easy," I said as I kicked his sword from his hand. When the sword hit the ground it splashed into water. Instead, the clone grabbed Sasuke by the throat and began choking him then kicked me away. I allowed myself to fly into Naruto and get back up.

As soon as I got up, Sasuke was thrown into me, sending Naruto, Sasuke, and me into a tree.

"Dammit," I groaned.

My entire body was shaking.

"Listen old man, I don't know how much of this I can take!" I yelled. "It's going to get real ugly real quick!"

"Roo, just hold on!" Kakashi yelled. "Get Tazuna and run!"

"Running isn't an option!" I yelled. "It's way too much fun for me," I whispered.

"I'm glad you're enjoying it," Sasuke groaned as he got up.

"Way to be an idiot and nearly get yourself killed," I yelled. "And don't mind me. I'll gladly catch you."

"Roo! Stop joking around and get out of here!" Kakashi yelled.

I laughed as saw the stream of blood from Sasuke, Naruto and me disappear into the water, "Right. Like we're going to give up now. It's just getting good, old man!"


End file.
